Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is on the programme for Government and relates to transport safety. I do not know where the Minister, Deputy Ross, is. Last weekend Cahir scouts, beavers and cubs travelled to Dublin by train. There were 35 scouts and cubs, along with seven gallant leaders who do great work. On the return journey with prebooked tickets, they had no seats. The train did not even have the carriage numbers that were printed on their tickets. They had to sit on tables, under tables, in bathrooms and on the floor, which is highly dangerous. They paid €1,500 for this trip.

I want the Taoiseach and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to investigate this because the lives of the children and other passengers were put at serious risk. This is happening regularly but this time it affected 35 small children, daoine óga, and their gallant scout leaders. They paid for prebooked tickets. Two carriages were missing from the train for which they had tickets for the return journey. This is an outrageous situation for Irish Rail. The very least the company can be forced to do is to reimburse the scout troop in Cahir and do something about the safety issues. I am getting calls from all over the country. It is happening regularly. This issue has been aired on Joe Duffy's radio programme and elsewhere. It is outrageous.

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