Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. In her response the Minister of State said that all of the settlements defined as such by the CSO are connected. I presume by this she means Greystones, Arklow and the bigger towns. They are connected by a very poor rail service. There are two trains in the morning. This is not sufficient by any stretch of the imagination. Brittas Bay has no public transport available to it. During the summer in particular there is an absolute need. I ask that the Minister and perhaps the NTA visit there on a sunny day to see the demand placed on the village. There is no public transport in the area.

The Minister of State also referred to the Local Link services. I know this is not her area but if an alien were to come down to Ireland and hear all of the eco-spin that comes out of the Government it would think we have public transport sorted and that it is perfect. The Minister of State has spoken about all of the Local Link services available in Wicklow. I did a quick search. There are 30 services, of which four operate Monday to Friday and the other 26 have one bus every week. If anyone in the Government thinks one bus a week is sufficient to cover public transport needs in rural Ireland I suggest they speak to constituents throughout the country because it is not. It is not sufficient from an economic perspective, a community perspective or an environmental and emissions perspective. This mindset needs to change.

The Minister of State also referred to the Connecting Ireland plan. I have been calling for Local Link services in Wicklow since 2017. Each time I raise it I am told there is a plan coming. There is €5.6 million for Connecting Ireland for the entire country for this year when we are in the middle of a climate crisis. This is a paltry amount of money. While it is a pity the Minister for Transport is not present, he should go back to the drawing board and try to understand the transport needs of rural Ireland and invest to ensure they are met.

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