Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that many people feel public transport is unsafe, especially at night and for women. That is a real problem and it is not just a perception. People see incidents occur on the Luas, buses and on trains and it makes them very worried. It also very much goes against what we are trying to do in encouraging people to use public transport more often, which is why we brought down the fares in the past year. Ultimately, a decision on whether there is a dedicated transport police is a matter for the Garda Commissioner, rather than the Government, but, obviously, there is an interaction between the Government and the Garda Commissioner as to what we think is sensible. It is not so much whether one calls it a transport police, it is more that we have a more visible presence of members of the Garda in and around stations, Luas stops and places that are known to be areas where public-order incidents occur. Whether it is a dedicated division is not really the most important point. The most important point is that people see and feel and have a visible experience of more security and more gardaí on public transport and at stations and stops.

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