Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to assure the Deputy that the Minister recognises that connectivity is hugely important. The Deputy has agreed with me that there has been a lot of Government investment in public transport. That is the case, and I know that the Deputy and I were strong backers and supporters of that.

It is true that some areas are losing a direct connection but if the service is running as advertised, there should be more connections overall. There should be more direct services, a higher frequency and some brand new services too. Overall, service levels on orbital routes to and from UCD are set to increase significantly. Previously, there were approximately five services an hour on the 17 and 175. This should be doubled to ten with the S4 and the S6. It should be noted that some communities will now benefit from a direct connection to UCD for the first time, on the S4 along the Long Mile Road, the hospital at Crumlin, Ballyfermot, Cherry Orchard, Rathgar, Milltown, and on the S6, which includes parts of the Firhouse Road, Cherryfield and Templeogue. Areas which up to now had a direct connection to UCD but which will require an interchange will include CityWest, Ballyboden, Knocklyon and parts of Firhouse.

I thank Deputy Lahart for raising this issue. We have BusConnects in the Dunboyne area in my own constituency, and it has not been implemented yet in full but we did agree changes with the National Transport Authority. I know that Deputy Lahart did that as well in his own constituency. There is a problem at the moment with a lack of drivers and there are also other issues we are facing. There is an issue with buses not turning up. Constant pressure from the Deputy on behalf of his constituents is very welcome. We have to make sure that for all the investment we are putting in to public transport, which is massive and unprecedented, the end user and the public transport bus user must get the benefit of that. We are so supportive of that.

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