Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Given the disruption to transport we have all seen in the last days, it is really timely that we are having this debate now. It seems very clear that what is happening at Dublin Airport is due to staff shortages after Covid. If pay and conditions need to be reassessed to attract and retain talent, then I really hope they are reassessed. If we have Dublin Airport branded as a more attractive place for people to work, it would ensure that we could stop these absolutely embarrassing scenes we are seeing. It is embarrassing because the DAA knows exactly how many flights are coming in and going out. The DAA knows exactly how many passengers to expect but it is simply not catering to them.

I also wish to highlight some local transport issues. I have raised the matter of Kishoge rail station again and again on the floor of the Dáil. It is 12 years since the station was built and trains still whizz past it without stopping. We need that station opened. We need it opened as a matter of urgency.

On the C spine, which is one of the two BusConnects spines in operation at the moment, we need the full service and not buses that drop off the app instead of arriving. We also need to deliver a public service to the people who were previously served by the Dublin Bus routes, including those people in Hillcrest, Dodsborough, Lucan village and Laraghcon.

The planned W6 orbital route is a new route that will go from Maynooth to Tallaght. It will connect with places such as Hazelhatch, Celbridge, Newcastle, Rathcoole and Saggart. It is a really important orbital strand but we are hearing now that it is going to be delayed again. With so many students going either to Maynooth University or to the Technological University Dublin in Tallaght, we need to make sure that we are providing those transportation links, especially for those commuters going to Greenogue.

With regard to commuters, while we all absolutely welcome the implementation of the progressive and positive measure of the reduction in fares in public transport, which is currently a 20% reduction across the board and a 50% reduction for young people, I am very concerned that commuters who use public transport every day are not feeling any benefit from this new measure. A TaxSaver commuter ticket is about 20% more expensive than using a Transport for Ireland, TFI, Leap card to go in and out of work five days per week. That does not make sense. This was supposed to be a measure brought in to benefit people who plan ahead and get an annual ticket. I would love for us to take a look at this.

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