Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before I respond, I must acknowledge and thank Deputy Stanton for swapping his slot with me.

In his contribution, the Minister of State has said that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options and that public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. I am not being smart, but I would genuinely like the Minister of State to go down and stand at a bus stop in my constituency and say that to people as the buses disappear off the real-time information.

I understand that the Minister, Deputy Ryan, is not responsible for drafting the timetables and, notwithstanding his experience driving the trucks today, neither do we expect him to jump in and drive the buses. I completely understand the Minister's role in this, but the Government is funding a service that is not working, in a constituency where we are heavily reliant on public transport. I put it to the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, that we do all that we can in here to encourage people to get out of their cars and get onto public transport. It is very hard to do that when one cannot be sure the bus is going to arrive.

The Minister of State referred to accessibility. As it happens, in my constituency some of the most efficient services that are provided are not accessible. They are provided by private bus providers, and some of the more reliable routes are not accessible. If a person living in my constituency has a disability then he or she is doubly disadvantaged. There is an issue if the lifts do not work at the train station. A person must phone in advance to say that he or she is going to need the train. On top of that, a good portion of the transport that is available is not accessible to that person. We want people to have an alternative. People cannot afford to fill the tank of the car, as the Minister of State will be aware, but sin scéal eile. We do want people to be able to use the buses. I challenge the Minister of State to go to any bus stop in my constituency and try to stand up his statement. That is not how the people I represent feel.

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