Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Another week sees another Fianna Fáil motion filled with lots of good stuff, including more bus lanes, feeder buses and buses in general, cycle lanes, park and ride facilities, the electrification of the Maynooth and M3 Parkway suburban line, and car parks at train stations. Who could disagree with this? Before Fianna Fáil tries to convince the House of its bona fides on the provision of greener and more sustainable transport services, however, it should probably begin to look closer to home. It was only in December that Fianna Fáil councillors on Fingal County Council tabled a motion to protect the existing lane structure in Fairview to benefit car drivers. A Dublin City Council proposal for an extra bus lane at this critical pinch point is secondary to local Fianna Fáil councillors' concerns for drivers. We must get people out of cars. The disconnect between what is said in local government and in the Dáil in the full glare of the national media is what erodes trust in a political party's commitment to political change. Is it acceptable to say one thing in the Dáil and another in local government chambers? I do not believe it is, but that is what is happening in Fianna Fáil-land. While the Labour Party will support the motion, that is why one must question Fianna Fáil's bona fides. How committed is the party to seeking proper and sustainable transport solutions in Dublin?

I notice that there is no mention in the motion of metro north, or metro link as it is now called. I hope Fianna Fáil remains committed to the provision of this important infrastructure. Despite the changed name and the extension of the route announced by the Government, the target date for delivery remains the same. I hope to see all political parties and none support the project and work to ensure it will remain on course for delivery by 2027. However, we cannot continue to allow towns such as Swords and Balbriggan to grow as commuter towns without, as we see happening in Swords, providing a high speed light rail link to provide residents with a fast and comfortable commute to the city centre. Congestion is now the big issue and it is simply not good enough to describe it as a by-product of a recovering economy.

That is like saying we would rather go back to the dark old days of the recession, when unemployment was sky high but traffic volumes were low. This congestion problem is worse now than ever. The motion notes that Dublin is the 15th most congested major city in the world. That is a league table for a league we would like to be relegated from, I am sure.

The cross city Luas has caused bedlam in Dame Street, College Green and through to O'Connell Bridge, and buses have been the victims. I understand the NTA is due to announce changes today to 11 bus routes to help tackle this congestion. It is simply not good enough that the planning for this project was not sufficient to identify the impact on traffic in the College Green corridor and the impact it was going to have on Dublin bus services. After all, Dublin Bus carries more commuters than any other public service carrier in the entire State. Dublin Bus has had to suffer from not being as attractive as Luas, rail or metro north, and it has always had to compete with private car use while sharing its bus corridors with other forms of transport, such as taxis and even competitor bus companies.

The motion calls for more buses, which we need, but these buses need every chance to make their journeys as quickly and as comfortably as possible. This means supporting the provision of quality bus corridors. The low-hanging fruit in terms of providing quality bus corridors has been plucked and the NTA now needs to make the more difficult choices - difficult choices such as whether to remove trees in Fairview Park to allow space to develop cycle lanes and bus lanes, for example. We cannot be afraid of making these decisions. Trees, as historic and beautiful as they may be, can be replaced and replanted in other areas in close proximity, in my view. Protecting our environment includes moving people to public transport options and taking cars off the road. We will not be able to convince people to leave their cars at home unless they have confidence in the reliability and speed of the public transport options, be it bus, rail or Luas.

Investment in parking at stations is a must. We need more spaces and, more importantly, these spaces need to be affordable. The cost of parking at train stations should be set at the most nominal level. We also need to provide more bicycle lockers at train stations. We have had problems in Fingal, with bicycle theft at train stations, which understandably discourages people from taking their bicycles to the train station. This forces them into cars to commute to the train station, or even all the way to work. This type of investment is relatively cheap but its value is immeasurable.

Overcrowding on trains and buses is a problem and we support the call in the motion to increase capacity on both. A bus journey on the 33 service from Balbriggan or Skerries, or the 41 from Swords and across Fingal can be a long journey, and can be made quite uncomfortable if one has to stand for the entire journey, which has been the experience for many people - people even have to stand on the first train from Donabate at 6 a.m.

In the first instance the Minister needs to fix the problems in Dublin city centre caused by Luas cross city, and this is an immediate concern. Second, congestion needs to be tackled and investment in bus, rail and cycle lanes is the way forward. Third, although it is not mentioned in this motion, a real commitment to metro link is required and we need to be counting down over a short period until the shovels are in the ground. I believe that once this thing is started, it will never stop, so the sooner we get it going, the better. If the Minister provides the infrastructure, the people will change their behaviour. As I said to him before, the Minister needs to be a champion of public transport.

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