Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to help increase numbers using public transport options available to them particularly in areas with heavy commuter traffic. [15053/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Accessible and attractive public transport systems are essential to attract potential passengers out of their cars and to reduce congestion in our cities, towns and villages. Significant investment has been made in the country's public transport network in the last decade. As I am sure every Deputy agrees, we have modern bus, tram and train fleets.

While we are not in a financial position at present to make further substantial investments to expand our public transport network, the Department, working with the National Transport Authority, will continue to invest in public transport infrastructure where it will give the greatest return. For example, the Luas cross-city line will link the red and green lines, improving the attractiveness of the LUAS network as a whole. We are also continuing to invest in bus lanes in cities around the country to get the best use of our buses and improve the passenger experience by reducing delays and improving reliably.  We will continue to invest in rail safety and maintenance programmes to ensure the optimal operation of the rail network.

The Government recognises that efficient public transport services are essential for social and economic well-being and will continue to provide financial support to the operators of public transport services under the public service obligation. The National Transport Authority has developed a range of technological solutions to make public transport more attractive and accessible to passengers, including an online national journey planner, the real-time passenger information system, which has been a great success, and the Leap card, which enables passengers to make cashless trips on a range of different transport modes. In addition to investing in public transport infrastructure and delivery, the Department and the National Transport Authority actively promote the use of public transport, through targeted programmes such as the green schools travel flag, smarter travel workplaces and smarter travel areas.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I remind the House there is one minute for supplementary questions and one minute for replies. I call Deputy Ellis.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. There is no doubt the cuts to the public transport system, in particular the cut in the Government subsidy, year on year, has led to serious cuts in public transport, particularly in Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann services, which have led to a lack of services for passengers in a number of areas. I know this from what I see in my own area, where routes have been cut. I question the logic behind cutting these routes when we should be trying to adapt and improve routes, not eliminate them completely, which is what has happened.

There are other areas we need to look at in terms of improving public transport. I again come back to the whole issue of some of the capital projects that have been dropped, such as Metro North, which would deliver a public transport system to the airport. While there were costings in the past, costs have come down considerably. I would like to think we could achieve a link-up between north and south Dublin and our national airport. This is an area that has been neglected.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy. The reality, from a public finance point of view, is that we were not able to proceed with a number of good projects, as the Deputy is aware.

We have prioritised linking up the Luas lines, a measure the Deputy supports. It is a good project that is progressing. It was unfortunate but there have been other significant investments. For example, there was a requirement to change many bus fleets and that has been done. There was a requirement to modernise many areas, particularly technology. We finally launched integrated ticketing, which is being rolled out in phases. Other developments include real-time passenger information and Wi-Fi on trains and buses so much progress has been made to make the public transport user's experience better. Those were crucial developments that needed to be done and over time we will see the success of those changes. The Deputy raised the issue of Network Direct in Dublin. Much of the analysis shows that many people are quite happy with some of the changes, particularly cross-city services and getting into town more quickly.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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There have been some very good improvements. Integrated ticketing has been a massive improvement, as have the bus signs which have been very successful in making times available to people as they are standing at bus stops. However, if we continue to cut the subsidy to these networks, we will end up with more cuts and less people on public transport. I know the Minister of State said in the past that he did not see this but I certainly see an increase in the number of cars being used in certain areas across the city because the public system has been removed from some streets. It is not all about whether it is economical to go from A to B. There are areas with a significant amount of senior citizens and people with disabilities and these people need to be served and helped. This needs to be taken into account. That is why the subsidy was there.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I have said time and gain that it does not make economic sense to scale back road improvement programmes because jobs are created through getting those major infrastructural projects off the ground. A public transport network was closed down in Longford-Westmeath, namely, the rail link between Athlone and Mullingar. This serves two gateway towns and is a very important piece of infrastructure. The road linking those two towns is one of the worst in Europe. It takes well over an hour and a half to commute by road. I ask the Minister and Minister of State to consider opening the rail link between Mullingar and Athlone. Doing so would make sound economic sense.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Moving people from A to B and connectivity are incredibly important. In that regard, the dublinbikes scheme has been very successful. However, there are still areas of the city not covered by the scheme, in particular the docklands area. That part of the city, which is a new part and has a considerable number of jobs and young people working there, is not well connected to the centre of Dublin. The same is true of areas south and north of the canals. Could the Minister of State provide a quick update on the negotiations that are happening regarding dublinbikes?

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Unfortunately, given the capital constraints, there are no plans to open the line from Mullingar to Athlone. I understand the argument the Deputy is making but the constraints are there. Dublinbikes has been incredibly successful and there are plans to roll it out in other areas. The NTA is always looking at how this can be expanded because it has been so successful, with many commentators arguing that it is the most successful bicycle scheme in the world. I will be engaging with the NTA in respect of the area referenced by the Deputy and I will contact him directly about that. There are also plans to look at rolling it out across other parts of the country and those discussions are ongoing. I am quite hopeful about that into the future.