Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)

A taxi from Ongar to Dublin Airport costs €50 to €65, for example. That is what passengers are being forced to spend. We could eliminate 10,000 to 20,000 car journeys immediately by introducing a direct bus route. It should be an absolute priority. Residents have suggested that the Minister might consider extending the W4 route to the airport until the N8 is finally rolled out. Realistically, they believe that could take a number of years. Such a decision would allow for typical operational slippages of approximately two years across the BusConnects roll-out.

There are 140,000 residents in Dublin 15 and 105,000 in Lucan and Clondalkin who could benefit directly from the extension of this bus service. We need this urgently in order to avoid more expense and to reduce the life hassle people who work in the airport face in trying to get there.

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