Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very concerned about rural train stations, and especially in my area of Carlow-Kilkenny. It is unacceptable that Irish Rail is actually downgrading these stations such as Bagenalstown and Thomastown. These stations are being left unmanned.

When people go there, there are no toilet facilities. It is very hard for tourists who want information because there is no one there to help them and guide them on where they are going. This is unacceptable. While the funding that is there is welcome, rural Ireland is never as big a part of things as it should be in reality. We should not be downgrading our train stations because they play a huge part in rural Ireland. I met representatives of Irish Rail and told them my concerns and those of the people who had contacted me about the service. I ask that this issue be addressed.

Carlow town was meant to get a town bus service, with work being done by Carlow County Council and the Minister. My understanding is that it was to be ready and up and running in the summer. Tomorrow is 1 June and I have some concerns about this. What is the timescale? I ask the Minister of State to come back to me on this matter. I know the funding is there. I have been told that by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I welcome that funding but it is important that we deliver on this project. Carlow is now a university town, as the south east has its own university. It is great to have the university but we need proper transport. We need to make sure the town bus service that was committed to is delivered on as soon as possible.

What happened at Dublin Airport was unacceptable. We cannot allow that to happen again. The coming weekend is the long weekend and we have to make sure nobody is in a position where they cannot catch their flight or miss their flight because of this situation. I ask the Minister of State to make sure of that and to keep everybody updated. I got a lot of phone calls today from people in my area asking about what will happen over the weekend, how many hours beforehand they have to be there and what the situation is. Communication from Dublin Airport and from the Government will be critical to keep people informed about what is happening in the next few days. We cannot allow that situation to happen again.

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