Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will cover a number of points and leave some time at the end for a response. Public transport has largely continued to function from the time of the lockdown and has largely been empty, though not exclusively. It is not easy to judge what it will be like once we start opening things up.

This roadmap and its five phases will hopefully commence next week and there are very good signs that this will be the case. Essentially, it presents problems. Just as one can have general guidance, there are areas where a bespoke solution is required and public transport is one of them from the perspective of the commuter and drivers. Will there be highly specific proposals and is the Minister liaising with the various stakeholders, including the unions, in this regard? Are commuters being consulted? There will be a restoration of full bus and rail schedules. If this is not done properly, buses and trains could become incubators. I take the Minister's point about the guidance that will come from NPHET regarding face coverings so I am not asking him to deal with that. Will there be consideration of congestion, for example? What arrangements will be in place for spaces like buses, where drivers are present for a greater period of time than commuters, were a driver to become ill? Is there a public communications strategy regarding what the National Transport Authority is doing with regard to managing this system, because it is difficult to get one's head around it? Let us hope it works well because if phase one does not work well, phase two will not work because one is dependent on the other. The first phase will be really important. Obviously, there has been significant loss of income for public and private transport providers. Has there been an assessment of the requirements to the end of the year? If so, could the Minister outline what that is and the plan to deal with it?

It is very obvious to all of us that people are cycling and walking more. This will be necessary to ensure we conserve space on public transport to allow for social distancing when people go back to work. Has the amount of money that is available to local authorities been enhanced for cycling and if so, could the Minister tell us what it is? On the reallocation of road space, has guidance been given to local authorities in this regard? There are many issues involving obvious things, such as reallocating road space, but there are areas where small pieces of a network that could be brought into play very quickly are missing. I am talking about the Royal Canal and Grand Canal from Kildare to Dublin. In some places, there are relatively small pieces that are missing. Can this be fast-forwarded?

Obviously there is a problem with the airlines. We want to keep our ports and airports open but it must be done safely. The idea that it involves guidance and people not having to adhere is highly problematic for those who are adhering to social distancing and possibly limiting their movement. I do not believe arrangements pertaining to airports can be voluntary. To a certain degree, they must be mandatory because if we are going to contain this, we must do so with some degree of certainty and it is not obvious that this will happen or that there will be co-operation in that regard. Can the Minister deal with this point? Will it be the Department of Justice and Equality or the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport that will deal with it? Can the Minister briefly deal with the issue of refunds and airlines? Is he in favour of the voucher system being used on a temporary basis? What is the guidance on that? I ask the Minister to try to give a succinct response to as many of those points as he can.

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