Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this Topical Issue to be taken and the Minister of State for being here at such a late hour. I am delighted to bring proceedings to a close. It has been a very long day in Dáil Éireann.

This is a major issue for the people of Loughrea town. It has been for a considerable period ever since July 2021, when Bus Éireann decided to completely withdraw its X20 service, which is essentially the Expressway service connecting Dublin city to Galway city. It passed regularly to and from Loughrea town every day. That service was then cancelled. It was a purely commercial decision taken by Bus Éireann. It said the route was not viable and it would no longer be able to operate it. Thankfully, the good people at Citylink, a private entity, stepped into the breach and vacuum, and the company has done sterling work in providing a service to the best of its ability.

At this point, however, we have a situation whereby a large town, which between the town itself and its immediate environs, has a population of approximately 8,000 people, has exceptionally poor public service transport connectivity between it and its neighbouring city, Galway. This is so much so that from 6.30 p.m. there is no further public transport service connecting Galway city to Loughrea. A student, worker, or somebody who wants to spend some time in his or her local city socialising in the evening may get into Galway city but will certainly have no way home and will be stranded. That is affecting so many people in how they interact with their local city. We know from CSO data that of those 8,000 people, approximately 700 to 800 of them commute to Galway city every day for either work or study.

At a time when we are quite rightly seeking to encourage and persuade people to effect that important modal shift to leave their cars at home and avail of public service transport, we find ourselves in a situation where the people in Loughrea town who might choose to do exactly that are left with no option but to take their car or remain at home and not make that visit to their local city. Loughrea, at this point, is a de facto suburb of Galway city. As I said, it has about 8,000 people. It is roughly a 20- to 25-minute drive from Loughrea to Galway city. In Dublin, for example, there are many such suburbs that enjoy far greater and far more efficient connectivity between them and their capital city. There is no reason whatsoever Loughrea should not enjoy the same support as regards public transport.

I have met the CEO of the National Transport Authority to impress upon her the urgency of resolving this matter. It requires her and the NTA, with the support of the Department of Transport, to invest in a PSO option or subsidy that would extend the service beyond 6.30 p.m. so that people can and should avail of that service.

I regularly use the Galway to Dublin train service and with the recent reduction in fares and the huge reliability and frequency of services between Athenry and Dublin, I find that train is packed for the seven days of the week. It proves conclusively that if people are provided with a reliable, efficient and cost-effective public transport option, they will use it but, sadly, at this point in time the people of Loughrea have no such option in terms of connectivity with their local city.

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