Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will try to bring it back on track as soon as possible. It is very important to continue our effort to invest substantial amounts of capital moneys in our infrastructure. Public transport is under pressure at present because of the necessity for separation and due to level 5 measures, we have been obliged to reduce to 25% the usage of the facilities but we should be looking to the medium term when we get to the other side of the pandemic. We need to look at electrification of our interurban routes and to get to much higher speeds between for example, Limerick and Dublin and Cork and Dublin. People can then get off the road and on to public transport and we can address, for once and for all, our overdependence on the burning of fossil fuels to power our public transport systems. If people see that as a State, we are serious about putting the infrastructure in place, they will continue with that modal shift. This will happen in the same way as the Luas got people out of their cars to a much greater extent than they ever would have, or did for the bus service. The introduction of the Luas has forced Dublin Bus, over time, to deliver a much better service and to put in place the sort of information points that enable people to know what time the bus is coming, with real-time information. This has sharpened everybody’s pencil, so to speak, within the public transport systems which is all part of this.

In conclusion, I commend the Bill to the House. I hope that we can address the other deficits with the funding that is required. I also hope that the Minister will be back before us very shortly with more emergency legislation about the necessity to invest in infrastructure in places like Clare, where we should have a rail stop at Crusheen, and where we should be addressing the very significant flooding issues that cause the rail line between Limerick and Ennis to regularly flood at Ballycar, which has an impact on the flow of trains and always serves to undermine people’s confidence in that network.