Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is widespread concern across Dublin city and county about the BusConnects plan. Many public meetings have been held, while many official consultations have taken place. I share my colleagues' regret that the public consultation process took place over the summer months when many people were not politically aware.

The main problem with the plan is that it severs links with important services such as hospitals, colleges, shopping centres and Government offices. Many bus users who currently use direct routes into the city centre from where they live will need to take at least two buses to reach their destination.

There will be problems with the proposed interchanges, particularly given the difficulties they will cause for the elderly, wheelchair users and people with special needs. There will be capacity issues at the bus interchanges. I can imagine the chaos there will be on the Malahide Road at the Artane roundabout when people arrive to catch a second bus. I assume the Minister can give assurances that the bus stops at the interchanges will be close together. Has any thought been put into that matter? Will there be pedestrian-operated traffic signals to enable people to cross the Malahide Road? These issues have not received sufficient consideration. Will the number of buses be increased? The solution to the problem of bus services in the city is to increase their number.

It is a general rule in politics that, if people have had the benefit of a service for generations, we cannot just take it from them overnight, yet that is what is being proposed. In Edenmore there are problems with the 27A bus route. In Howth there are problems with the 31 bus route. In Raheny there are problems with the 29A, 31, 31A, 31B and 32 bus routes. In Artane, Beaumont, Coolock, Kilmore, Santry and Clonshaugh there are problems with the 14, 16, 27B and 17A bus routes. People have many concerns about the issues that arise and I worry about what is being proposed. For example, I worry that it is a route to the privatisation of further bus services in Dublin. The plan is opposed by the NBRU. Any bus driver to whom I have spoken has been opposed to it.

I wish to raise an issue about public transport generally. It concerns the DART. Both last week and this week DART services from Malahide and Howth were significantly overcrowded. By the time they get to Harmonstown and Killester, they are completely full, which is quite dangerous. Passengers who wish to get off at various stops have to bash their way through the crowds on the carriages. There is a major problem with DART services on the north side of Dublin for passengers heading into town, yet I am not sure the changes implemented last Monday will solve it.

The plan has to be scrapped as there is too much concern about it, but we cannot scrap one system overnight and impose a new one. It must be done incrementally. We need to get the NTA to go back to the drawing board to start again and come up with a revised plan.

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