Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before I address the issue directly, I have to say I am loving the letting on rows between the Government Members and the "boyos" opposite who are backing them so completely and wholeheartedly. Most of it is pure comedy gold. I do not know if it amuses them or if they are getting any value out of it, but it certainly brings a smile to my face from time to time. When they come in hear with a Private Members' motion and decry the actions of the Government but then make sure the Government stays in power, one has to ask why none of this came up during the negotiations on the confidence and supply agreement. I am sure it came up but perhaps it was dismissed, they did not push it or they only care about it now. I do not know, but it is possible for those of us who are watching it to knock a bit of sport out of it and it brings smiles to our faces.

There is an issue with regard to transport in Dublin, and I say this as someone who has worked in the city centre for about 16 years. In my previous job I had to bring my car into town, which was an absolute nightmare. I would look at the Luas and think that it would be marvellous if I could get onto it but now, as we see, people are struggling to get onto the Luas. I heard a man say on radio the other day that it was quicker to get off and walk. That is not acceptable, and everybody is asking why it was not joined up in the first instance. It is that kind of lack of foresight that has characterised much of the transport policy. The failure to join up the Luas line is a kind of microcosm of successive policies on transport and the lack of planning. For a city that is growing, there does not seem to be enough foresight and planning.

In my constituency of Fingal, one can see writ large the problems with regard to commuting and congestion. If one gets on the DART coming from Malahide or Portmarnock, one can see that people love the DART. I remember going on the first DART journey and we were all terribly excited. Everybody likes the DART. Everybody like to take public transport unless they have to use it at peak times, in which case they are wedged onto it.

The same is the case with services in my town of Skerries. I was on it this morning. As I knew I would speaking on this motion I thought I would chat to the people beside me to guage their opinions - I often have to bring my car into town but did not this morning, which was welcome - and I got the same answer from all of them. They said it is a good service and one they value but the trains are not long enough, there is not sufficient capacity and they are squashed onto them like sardines. They are worried that when the weather is warmer they will be left in a situation whereby people on the trains will be fainting once again.

I live in the constituency with the fastest growing population so we need to see what is there in terms of forward planning, extending the rail line, extending the carriages and making sure that people who need to can get onto public transport. As someone who has to take my car into town on quite a number of occasions, it is no picnic to be sitting on the M1, which is effectively like a car park, for most of the morning.

It is stressful and a rotten way to start the week or day at work. It stresses everyone out. One looks to the left and right and sees cars containing people who are stressed to bits. There is a case to be made for a lot more forward planning as we are all living with the consequences of the complete failure to plan for the future. The failure to link the Luas lines is a very good example.

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