Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

What the Deputy always does so well in this situation is point to the problems and not towards the facts that we are addressing them and that there are solutions on the way. If the buses were empty, he would be saying I was running a white elephant and that there were too many people in their cars. The increasing demand for buses is a reflection not only of the demand for buses but of the good and much more punctual services being offered and the fact that people are very willing to take public transport.

The Deputy rightly identifies difficulties, no doubt at the bottom of Brewery Road. I cannot comment on that specific case. Like the Deputy, I can ask questions of the NTA or Dublin Bus but I cannot comment on individual cases because the timetable and daily operation cannot be micromanaged by me. There will, however, always be circumstances of that sort. What the Deputy ought to acknowledge — he has, in a way — is that BusConnects, improvements regarding the DART and Luas expansion, and the money we will be spending on cycling and walking infrastructure comprise a serious and very dramatic attempt to address that problem, which needs a certain amount of time to be resolved. We are determined to resolve it.

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