Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion and thank my colleague, Deputy Pringle, for putting it before the House. The Green Party is heavily shaping Government policy. The mantra, of course, is that we should move to public transport. There has been a lot of discussion about penalising the use of cars through congestion charges, etc. Uniquely, we are talking about penalising people before alternatives are in place. I do not have a problem with trying to reduce congestion in Dublin, nor have I a problem with trying to get people to use public transport and more energy efficient methods of transport, thereby reducing carbon emissions. I have no problem with any of that. However, we have never invested in public transport in this State. That is not the fault of the Green Party.

I have previously raised the issue of what was once the direct Limerick to Dublin line, via Castleconnell, Ballybrophy, Nenagh, Cloughjordan and Roscrea. Passengers change at Ballybrophy to get to Dublin. The Minister told me there has been considerable investment in the line, which I welcome. As a result of that investment, the travel time on the line is 15 minutes shorter than it used to be. However, if someone wants to travel by rail from Birdhill to Dublin in the middle of November, after the investment, there will be a train at 6.58 a.m., which arrives at 9.57 a.m., and a train at 7.52 a.m., which arrives at 11 a.m. Both of those trains take in excess of three hours. When I was a child, some 40 years ago - I am 48 now - that journey took a shorter time. Time matters. People who wish to take a train to Dublin will ask how long it will take. It is a very pleasant journey. There are calves running alongside the carriage, etc. It is a relaxing journey for those who have the time. However, I can drive from Birdhill to Leinster House in the middle of Dublin, let alone Heuston Station, in two hours and 15 minutes. Trains need to be invested in if we want people to use them. The problem is the lack of investment and I blame successive Governments for that. There has been a considerable lack of investment in public infrastructure throughout the country.

The motion refers to the lack of wheelchair accessibility on our trains and buses. That is a problem. The lifts across the DART service are regularly out of order. That issue affects the Minister of State's constituency. There has been a lack of investment and funding to deal with those issues. That most severely impacts disabled people, as the motion points out, and I am happy to support that because it curtails their right to freedom of movement. However, the lack of accessibility also curtails the ability of anybody who has a pram, which is a large cohort of the population. I am not saying that cohort is more important than wheelchair users merely because it is a slightly larger cohort. The impingement on the rights of those with prams is less serious than the impingement on the rights of wheelchair users. However, we are left in a position where a large cohort of the population cannot use the DART if the lifts are not working.

Some of the Minister of State's colleagues have criticised people with sports utility vehicles, SUVs, driving around south County Dublin. If someone has two children and two prams, it must be tempting to buy a high car to get them in and out of, particularly when he or she cannot get them in and out of DART stations because the lifts are not working. Instead of criticising people for the choices they are making, the Government must give them choices.

I expect that is something the Minister of State supports and I am disappointed in the Government. There is a movement in that direction by this Government but it is not enough, particularly given the climate crisis we are facing and the amount of criticism we are levying at people for using cars, be it to drive from Clare, Birdhill or Cloughjordan to Dublin, or to drive around Dublin. Until alternatives are provided, it is not reasonable to criticise people and that remains my view. I do not have a problem with trying to move people onto more sustainable forms of transport but we have to provide the alternatives and provide those forms of transport first. I am happy to support the motion.

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