Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with both Deputies on the points made. I argue that there are two key constraints to what we all want, which is a major expansion of public transport services in Cork county and city, as well as in the rest of the country. The first is a budget constraint. Even with the significant resources provided, the truth is that we are going to have to make difficult decisions because everywhere is now looking for further and enhanced services, correctly so. That is why it is very important that we prioritise public transport but it is controversial because many people say we should be prioritising roads and so on. However, if we do not give prioritisation to public transport, which historically has been forgotten about and not supported, then we cannot deliver the orbital routes, such as the route to Macroom, Bandon and Millstreet. That is exactly the sort of service that we need and Connecting Ireland is designed to deliver that sort of option. Route 257 is coming into Macroom from Millstreet and if it is heading on to Bandon, someone could switch over to route 233 or route 40 to get into Cork, so we would design Bus Connects that way.

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