Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister described the problems experienced by the Luas since last month as teething problems. That is an incredibly flippant remark from someone in charge of public transport because from the first day until today, there has been no sign of those teething problems abating. The new line has caused severe traffic congestion and lengthy delays in the College Green area of the city. The problem was compounded when tram frequency was reduced to try to deal with the problem. That has left passengers waiting for longer and regularly being unable to board a tram as they are too crowded at peak times. That has been happening every morning and every evening since then.

What the Minister considers to be teething problems are causing huge stress to commuters every morning and evening as they worry, first, whether the Luas will turn up on time and, second, if there will be room on it for them. People are late for work and they are having to endure long, overcrowded journeys on the tram packed like sardines.

Is it the case that, having repeated the mantra that the Luas cross city will be delivered on time and on budget ad nauseam, that the line had to be opened regardless of the fact that sufficient planning had not been carried out regarding capacity and the required frequency of services? It was the Taoiseach's project, as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and he had reminded us on many occasions that it had to be delivered on time. Now, because of that, we have chaos in the city centre and huge problems with overcrowding in the suburbs.

The Government recently published the national planning framework. A substantial number of transport infrastructural projects have been listed in that document, but people may well be justified in having serious concerns about the Government's ability to deliver those projects given what has happened with the Luas cross city because it appears that the small existing rail infrastructure in the city cannot be managed without the entire place grinding to a halt.

Since the launch of the new Luas line, has the Minister been liaising with the NTA and with Dublin City Council with regard to finding a speedy solution to this problem? What role did the NTA and the city council have, and what discussions were had prior to this in an effort to avoid this and what has happened since this chaos started?

If the message the Minister is trying to send out to the capital city is that we need to take people out of their cars and into public transport, how will that happen if it is the case that we cannot rely on public transport? If people do not know whether the Luas will come on time, if they are afraid they will be late for work, if they do not know whether they will get on the tram or be crushed like a sardine on it, how can the Minister instill confidence in the public that public transport is the way forward for our city because it will ease congestion when there are mess-ups like the ones we currently see?

We need reliable, affordable and accessible public transport if people are to be convinced of the merits of using it in the first place. If we do not get this problem corrected at the earliest date, the Minister will have a hell of a job convincing people to leave their cars at home and use public transport throughout the city.

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