Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity to bring forward this matter. It is of deep concern to the people of Inchicore, a number of groups in fact. One of the groups I have been working with is a called Connecting Communities, which has been working on this issue and is looking to have the Minister of State's support. As a resident of that constituency and a community advocate, there is a serious impact from the proposed changes under the BusConnects programme, specifically the rerouting of the 57 bus. There were two buses that used to go from Bluebell and Inchicore, down Tyrconnell Road and turn into Thomas Street. I have raised this in the Dáil before and we are not getting any further with the NTA, so I am asking the Minister of State for his support on this. Some 40% of the people who live in that area do not have a car, so they rely on public transport. The people I am meeting with are a generation of people who live in Bluebell and Inchicore and rely on Thomas Street for their shopping, services, hospital and churches and the social aspects of their lives.

I am sure the Minister of State does not know Inchicore as well I do, given that he is not from Dublin South-Central. However, the bus will go along the Conyngham Road at the side of the Phoenix Park, which is miles away from Thomas Street. That then means those people have no access to it. Carrying your shopping and having to take two buses is not suitable for a young person, a middle-aged person and certainly not an older person. The NTA has said it has consulted with people, but people do not feel consulted with. They do not feel they have been listened to. They are out marching. They were out last weekend and will be out again. Public representatives are sponsoring posters so this community group can demonstrate how difficult this move is for them. We have written to the NTA. We are not getting an answer and I am asking for some intervention. It is not that the group or anybody in Inchicore does not want BusConnects to go ahead because it is great to have a bus service that will be there. Unfortunately, when you are trying to rationalise how a bus service is going to go for the whole of Dublin, bearing in mind that route will go out to Kildare and other commuter areas, what happens is that the small details are lost. This is an example of the small details being lost. Those people who are reliant on an old part of Dublin will be disconnected. I suppose that is why they have called their group Connecting Communities.

The other issue BusConnects has is that it will put pressure on parents who are sending their children to school. There are very few secondary schools in Dublin 8 and there is no Gaelcholáiste or multidenominational school, so parents send their children outside that area. A number of parents contacted me recently with regard to some children taking three buses in the morning to get to a Gaelcholáiste in Rathfarnham and some getting two, depending on where they live in Inchicore. That is an extremely long day for a student in secondary school. The other difficulty with that Inchicore BusConnects issue is that the people coming out of the CIÉ works, which is on an estate in that area, will no longer be able to go left, which cuts them off from going to Ballyfermot and the N4. They will have to take a circuitous route, which adds way more time to their day and is totally illogical. They have also said that the NTA has said it has engaged with this community group, but they do not feel engaged. All of these engagements happened over Covid time, which was quite a difficult time to engage people. People were possibly not as engaged, or they missed it. However, the NTA needs to try harder, and we are asking the Minister of State to intervene and help in any way with regard to Inchicore.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Deputy Cummins for her contribution and as a public representative I fully understand the stress that BusConnects is causing. I have the same experience in Cork. In many ways the reply I am going to give her will not be the response she perhaps deserves. She is right that I am not familiar with the geographical area, but going through her constituency on the way in and out of Dublin you can see the importance of BusConnects and the Conyngham Road to Thomas Street geographical imbalance. I am struck by her comments about the 40% who have no car. Am I correct that the Deputy said the 57 bus?

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

There is a 57, 68 and a Go-Ahead bus there.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I will take the Deputy's concerns back to the NTA and I thank her and the people in Connecting Communities. I know my previous colleague, former Senator Seery-Kearney, had been active on behalf of residents.

The first thing is that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport, but the Minister or his officials do not have responsibility for the day to day operation of public transport services. That falls to the NTA, as the Deputy knows. The NTA, on behalf of Government, works with public transport operators to deliver services and has responsibility for day to day operational matters.

In the context of BusConnects, the NTA is the group that is in charge of its implementation. I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and useful sustainable travel options and public transport is an important part of that. BusConnects is critical to that offering. In budget 2025, €658 million of funding for public service obligation, PSO, in my case was obtained through the Department for Local Link services, which represents an increase from the €613 million. However, we have been encouraging young people through the fare reduction, the young adult card on commercial bus services and the 90-minute fare until the end of this year. There is also funding for those aged between five and eight years old. The main point we must both work on is to make sure that BusConnects is transformative for our bus system, providing a better bus service across our cities, particularly in Dublin, for the people who use this service.

The key elements of BusConnects in Dublin include the construction of segregated bus and cycling lanes, or core bus corridors, as well as a redesigned network of services. I am pleased to announce that An Bord Pleanála has now approved all 12 core bus corridor applications, and I expect to see the first of these corridors enter construction later this year. The primary aim of the redesigned bus network in BusConnects Dublin is to improve the existing bus system through enhanced services with high-frequency spines and new local, orbital and radial routes. The bus network changes in Inchicore form part of this city-wide programme. New services are being provided, running with co-ordinated timetables at high-frequency along each of the main radial corridors to and from the city centre. This is combined with new inter-suburban and local routes. Free interchange is available using the 90-minute fare. As the Deputy is well aware, the new BusConnects Dublin network is being implemented in stages. For Inchicore, phase 4 saw the introduction of the G spine routes connecting Ballyfermot, Liffey Valley and the Red Cow to the Docklands via Inchicore. These services are all operated by Dublin Bus on a 24-hour basis. The NTA has advised that there has been a 25% increase in passenger boardings following the introduction of new services provided under phase 4 of the roll-out, compared with equivalent routes operating prior to the launch of this phase.

For Inchicore, the current routes 13, 68 and 69 will be replaced as part of the D spine. Specifically, the overall replacement for route 13 will be the new route D3 running from Clongriffin to Clondalkin via Crumlin, while routes 68 and 69 are being replaced locally by a new route 58. I am informed by the NTA that these changes are planned for the first half of next year. I have been advised that the NTA is aware of the concerns of residents about new route 58 in Inchicore and will write to representatives about this in the near future. Engagement with the Deputy and other public representatives is critical. I will bring her comments back to the NTA.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome his comments and knowledge of the area. We are all very proud in Dublin 8 of Inchicore and the historic part of the city that it is. We absolutely welcome the fare reduction, particularly for young people and students. It is excellent, especially if someone was to take three buses within the two-hour period. It is fantastic and we do welcome that. BusConnects is welcome. It will make people's lives much easier and travelling will be more straight forward, etc.

As I referenced earlier, however, smaller details are being missed out in the wider scheme and these are important. I acknowledge the work of former TD Joan Collins on this issue. She is still out every week working so hard on this and I am happy to support her and that group. Every public representative of Dublin South-Central and the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh area is there and we are putting pressure on. When those three bus routes, 13, 68 and 69, were first going to go to just one bus twice every hour, the pressure that the group put on the NTA and public representatives to keep representing them has meant that it is now going to be every 15 minutes. When I met the NTA recently, it said there will be a second route which is going to go pretty much the same way, but it is also going to be more frequent, which is great. The missing link is going to Thomas Street. That is really the difficulty. Not missing out on access to that part of the city is what they are looking for, and the frequency of buses is also a concern.

I thank the Minister of State and the NTA. I hope it will engage with us further, so we are able to make the Inchichore BusConnects situation less difficult for everybody.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Deputy for again articulating people's genuine concerns. As public representatives, it is important that we highlight that the redesigned bus network for Dublin was finalised following three rounds of extensive public consultations. This culminated in over 72,000 submissions being received. Part of the difficulty that I experience in Cork, and I am sure that Deputies Cummins and Devine are the same in their area, is that there needs to be extensive engagement, active listening and participation by all the residents, us as public representatives and the NTA. BusConnects is about transforming public transport. We all share that. There is no argument there. Passenger numbers are increasing. I have been informed that for residents in Inchichore along the G spine, the wait time between the high-frequency buses has significantly dropped, maybe in part because of the active engagement by residents. Bus reliability has improved as a result of this redesign.

I understand that the changes proposed to the bus services in Inchichore are causing concerns. Some of those can be alleviated and can be addressed. The issue relates to the geography of the bus route, the frequency and the connections. That is part of what the public consultation must be about. The Deputy and residents bring knowledge that engineers, with the best will in the world, do not necessarily have. Having a map and going through a particular area sounds greats, looks great and reads great, but it is about the day-to-day practicalities. I am confident that the NTA, which has committed to writing to representatives, can address the matter.

This is about a modernisation and improvement of our overall transport network. It is about increasing capacity, frequency and coverage across Dublin and other cities and ensuring that we do not discommode people. Obviously, everybody will not get what they want but in this case, it is about working to bring a solution that is practical. I again thank Deputy Cummins for raising the matter. I assure her that I will bring her comments back to the NTA.