Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand what the Deputy is saying and the fact that he is making a special plea for Celbridge. As he correctly said, there are major problems with congestion in Dublin traffic and Celbridge suffers as a result. However, it should be acknowledged that we are making great strides. We are making enormous commitments to sorting out the problem of traffic in Dublin and the suburbs. While BusConnects might be imperfect in some ways, as it will not suit everybody in every way, it will increase the frequency of public transport coming into the city centre. It is not just the orbital routes that will improve it but also the new bus corridors. In almost all cases that will be accompanied by 200 km of dedicated cycling lanes, which will obviously accommodate some of the people the Deputy mentioned who are currently not able to get onto some of the buses in his area.

It must be acknowledged that there have been great improvements, and not just in rail, Luas cross city, cycling and BusConnects. The Deputy should acknowledge, and I do not take away from the fact that he has been lobbying on its behalf, that there have been great improvements in the routes serving Celbridge. The ten-minute peak times is one. The orbital routes will also benefit Celbridge, as will the interchange with the rail network. In the long term, the electrification of the line to Hazelhatch will benefit the Celbridge area. I understand what the Deputy is saying but, to be honest, the area is not doing badly. The Deputy should claim some of the credit for that as he has been a thorn in my side, or a great asset to his area, for a long period of time. Perhaps he should now sit back and say to people, "Look at what we have got. We are doing quite well".

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