Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I would like to share my time with Senator Terry. I welcome the Minister to the House and I understand the difficulty in being in two or three places at the one time. I appreciate the fact that he made this statement today. I thank the Leader for organising this debate. This matter arose last week on the Order of Business and she organised the debate in a very short period of time, which we all appreciate.

I live on the Luas line in Kingswood Heights in Tallaght, where there now is a new Luas station. There is a great deal of pride in our community about Luas. It is a terrific service and we will leave the fact that it was two years behind schedule to another debate. If a quality public transport system is provided, people will use it.

There are other things we can do to make sure even more people will use Luas. American transport economists tell us that if a person lives more than eight to ten minutes walking time from a station, then that person will use a car. We can make Luas an even greater success if we operate feeder bus services from outlying communities to the Luas line. The Minister might argue that the capacity is not there. The Tallaght line has a smaller capacity than the Sandyford line because of the rolling stock. It is crucial that we have feeder bus services that will bring people to the line to ensure more people use the space that is there.

The Minister mentioned that 3.5 million passengers have used both lines to date. Has a survey been carried out to find out if people have made that modal shift from private car to public transport? There has been a 40% reduction in the use of the bus in my own area. None of us wants to see Luas succeed at the expense of Dublin Bus. We have to be much more innovative in the way in which we bring people to the line to encourage the expanding community to use it.

The issue arose last week about an interconnection between the blue line and the red line. I appeal to the Minister to be open minded about how we can connect both lines. It is ridiculous to have this modern, state-of-the-art transport facility, without a means of connection between both routes. I know that there is a problem at the top of O'Connell Street and O'Connell Bridge because up to 40% of buses traverse that junction. That is a problem, but we may well be able to connect them in another way.

Why can we not connect them between Harcourt Street and James's Street with a new stretch of roadway? In the short term, we could have a free shuttle bus service that will get people from the Tallaght line to St. Stephen's Green and vice versa to make sure there is interconnection between the two lines. It is a crying shame that in our plans over the past few years, we did not produce the right planning ingredient to ensure a surface connection between both lines. The Minister's comments last week were very positive on the attitude of Trinity College in terms of taking a chunk of the provost's front garden and moving it up this side of the city. We need an interconnection.

One problem that has emerged is that of accidents involving the Luas, particularly on the Tallaght line. This is the case as it traverses many junctions in the north inner city. We need more policing, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, as well as better signage. That would be useful as people are only getting used to the fact that trams are back in Dublin after 40 years. They have to improve their driving habits and they have to learn. A policing presence would help.

I was not against what the former Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, was trying to do with regard to Dublin Bus. It is good to give new routes to competition and to get Dublin Bus to compete with private operators.

I am a great supporter of Dublin Bus, which has turned the corner like no other semi-State company and done fantastic things in Dublin. There is a need for a public sector company that works in tandem with private sector operators. I am not against that in principle. I ask the Minister to take action in that regard. Industrial relations difficulties, such as the stand-off between the former Minister for Transport and the unions, have comprised part of the problem. As a result, decisions have not been taken on the new routes which have been proposed by Dublin Bus.

I am aware of new suburban communities in west Dublin which do not have a bus service, even though there are 2,000 houses in the area. I understand that Dublin Bus wants to provide a service and compete in the market in such areas, but it has been unable to do so because of industrial relations difficulties which resulted in a stand-off over the past six or seven months. I understand that new routes must have the imprimatur of the Minister. I advise him to sanction the many routes which Dublin Bus is prepared to operate. If other private operators want to provide a service in such areas at a reduced cost, or to provide additional services on such routes, he should sanction that too.

The public and private sectors should work together in this regard. The Government should not adopt a stuck-in-the-mud attitude to matters like this. While I welcomed what the former Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, was trying to do I may not have agreed with the way in which he went about it. Dublin Bus is an innovative company which has shown a capacity for leadership in recent years. It has been at the cutting edge of public transport. It needs to be supported, but that support should not be provided at the expense of other people who could also provide the service.

It seems likely that a traffic corps will be established. I would welcome such a development. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform seems to have found 1,000 new gardaí to do the job. I hope to hear the Minister for Transport's thoughts on the matter in the future. There is a need for a dedicated traffic corps in Dublin to move bottlenecks and penalise those who engage in bad driver behaviour.

Many of this city's congestion problems are caused by bad traffic management. I have long argued for a contraflow system on roads with three lanes, including the road on which I live. The system could be managed by a policeman from the traffic corps in the mornings and evenings to ensure that people do not abuse it.

The Fine Gael and Labour Party groups on Dublin City Council have argued for the introduction of car pooling, purely to see if it would work. There is no point in empty vehicles travelling on bus lanes in the mornings. I do not suggest that private cars should do it. If a car has a full load of people, however, we should let it off. Such people should be allowed to use bus corridors. It will be great if the experiment works and it can be cancelled if it does not. I thank the Minister, Deputy Cullen, for coming to the House to attend this important debate.