Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)

I welcome the Government decision not to oppose the motion. Continued investment in public transport is essential if we are to deliver on our climate obligations. We need to acknowledge, as others did recently, that there are now 1 million daily users as well as the expansion of the local network link. We need to make it easier for people to use public transport. Everyone here has travelled to European cities and been amazed by the fact that they can just tap with their phones. The Leap card system is good, but surely it can be adapted to allow people to use their phones. The NTA has said that it will take one or two years, but it should not take that long to adapt a small chip to give people travelling a tap-on experience.

I will reference accessibility. We need to reflect the scale of the barriers people with disabilities still face when using public transport. I acknowledge that we are seeing progress but there are problems with bus stop design in many areas, particularly along the Clontarf Road in north Dublin. At several bus stops on the recently upgraded cycling network, I have witnessed near collisions and there have been serious injuries. I raised this matter with Dublin City Council, the NTA and the Government. We cannot pit one transport user's experience against another. Public safety and accessibility must be the cornerstone of our transport infrastructure. We see where it is being done well, but there are a lot of places where the same design was not implemented.

I will raise another matter. People with disabilities are unable to use Clontarf or Clongriffin DART stations because the lift is continuously out of order. I reference another European city that has an app that shows people real-time data. I know we are doing that but it is not as quick. It needs to show exactly when the lift is out of order so that people are informed and told where they can go.

Go n-éirí leat i do phost nua, a Aire. He will do a great job and I look forward to working with him.

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