Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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11. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is aware of the difficulties with the access and the underground car park at Clongriffin, which is a vital hub in the new public transport strategy for Dublin, and if he will convene the key stakeholders to seek to broker a solution. [52816/23]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Clongriffin station is to be a strategic transport hub serving a very rapidly growing area. Indeed, it is an area where the Land Development Agency plans to develop more than 2,000 homes. At present, it has no park-and-ride facility, the underground car park is shut, the access to the Dart station from the Fingal side is in private hands, the lift is not working and the area is not in charge. I ask that the Minister's agencies, the NTA and Iarnród Éireann, get involved in resolving some of these very difficult problems.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. I wish to advise the Deputy that I have been made aware of the ongoing issue of access at Clongriffin train station. It is my understanding that the current access from the east side of the station in Baldoyle is a stairwell and lift connecting to a bridge over the railway. This was built some years ago by a private developer and is not in the ownership or responsibility of Iarnród Éireann. I have been informed that a meeting has taken place recently between Fingal County Council, Iarnród Eireann, the NTA and the private developer to facilitate a discussion on the opportunities to improve general accessibility, including improved access to the railway station from the east and improved access over the railway line. As agreed by these parties, the NTA has recently engaged with a consultant to prepare a feasibility and options selection report to examine options for access solutions that provide safe, reliable and robust access to Clongriffin train station, pedestrian access to bus services and improved connectivity between the growing residential areas of Clongriffin on the west side and Baldoyle on the east. This will incorporate the principles of universal access. This initiative should progress the issue of station access, and subject to any planning considerations, I hope improvements can be implemented as soon as possible.

The car park under Clongriffin Station was constructed over a decade ago by a private developer. However, this car park was closed during the Covid-19 pandemic and has not reopened due to damage as a result of vandalism. It is understood that this underground car park is owned by another private developer. It is not yet known whether it is intended to bring it back into use.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister will understand the sense of abandonment by people in this rapidly growing area where this has been designated a strategic hub. As the Minister has fairly outlined, two of the key strategic assets to enable it are in private hands and are not working. If we want to go ahead with these higher-density, more sustainable developments, which we do, we need to put some money on the table to fix these problems. There do not seem to be planning conditions in the armoury of either Fingal County Council or Dublin City Council. As the Minister knows, the station is on the border of the two local authority areas, which makes even harder. We are stuck here with these assets lying inaccessible. While I welcome the Minister's reply, there is a need for him to intervene personally in order to drive this forward with whatever funding is needed to enable progress to be made.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I absolutely agree with the Deputy. I commit to taking a personal interest in this, because it is not acceptable in the public realm and the fact that this mixture of assets is not being maintained or accessible. This is a 400-space car park that is not being used at a time when we are talking about using existing assets. The fact that various different developers are now in ownership of some of the assets is also unacceptable. I am glad that meeting took place on 24 October to try to bring everyone together. I absolutely accept that it is intolerable and that it cannot remain in the current state. A resolution is needed and I commit myself and the Department to pushing all the agencies involved, from Iarnród Éireann, the NTA, and the private developers, to come to a resolution. What is happening at present is not acceptable.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I warmly welcome the Minister's commitment. This really needs to move on. The success of BusConnects and so on all hangs in the balance of getting a hub like this working properly.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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I support Deputy Bruton in the context of what he said. It may sound really peculiar that a TD from Longford-Westmeath is speaking about Clongriffin, but I was at that train station at 6.30 a.m. It is an area I am very familiar with. I utterly concur with the sentiment of feeling abandoned. It is grossly unfair. The Minister spoke of the access from the Baldoyle side. I recommend that he visit the area and takes a look at this hub. Certainly, in my constituency, we are green with envy that this type of station exists there, but it has not reached its potential. That potential could have a huge impact on the residents in the immediate area, but also those in surrounding areas. It was quite late yesterday evening as I was existing Clongriffin train station and I counted six cars parked on the road outside the train station. They were at the entrance to the train station. The station has gone through a very turbulent period, particularly in the context of antisocial behaviour and vandalism, but there is work being done to address that. Access is a real issue. There is also an issue regarding the walk from the train station down to where the buses park. The walkway is incredibly dark. The street lights do not work. The steps are there and the wheeled access is already in situ, but it strikes me as somewhere where there has been a lack of joined-up thinking. It is quite close by. I advise the Minister to get the DART out to the station and to have a look at what the potential of this area could be. At the moment, it is not reaching that potential and it is very unfair for those who live in the immediate area.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I support what all three Deputies have said. We are all agreed on this and I will ensure we make it a top priority to come to a resolution between the various parties.