Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Mar gheall gurb é an Aoine atá ann, b'fhéidir nach mbainfidh mé úsáid as an am ina iomláine. Tá fáilte romhat ag an Aire. I welcome the Minister.

I associate myself with what Senators Dooley and Moynihan have said about front-line transportation workers. As someone who has used public transport to access this institution during the course of this pandemic, I have seen first hand the effort they have put in during this period. It is important we reflect and acknowledge that here in terms of the statements.

We do not want to encourage people where it is unnecessary that they travel, not least beyond the 5 km restrictions in place at the moment.For me, this period presents the Minister, his Department and those of us in these institutions with the opportunity to reflect on how we reimagine our public transport network and infrastructure across the entirety of this island. It also gives us an opportunity, as other colleagues have regularly said, not only to reimagine how we can improve services and infrastructure but also to take the time to think about what transportation is going to be like after this pandemic. The needs of people, workers and commuters will fundamentally change as a result of the experience of the past year and more.

That is part of the reason I was so disappointed and shocked at the news, put out under the radar somewhat in the midst of the pandemic, of the cut to a number of Bus Éireann Expressway services to destinations throughout the island. The Belfast to Dublin route had in excess of 1 million journeys in 2019 and that Expressway service has been cut. To me, that defies all known logic. I do not understand that decision nor why the Minister has not been more vocal in challenging it and, in the longer term, working to address the removal of that service which is much utilised by visitors, tourists, students and workers.

One of the key commitments of the Government in the New Decade, New Approach document has been the development of the high-speed rail connection between Belfast and Dublin and its connection to Cork and to Derry and the north west. Will the Minister take the opportunity to update us on how that fundamentally transformative project is progressing? I know there has been support for it from the Executive, councils along the eastern corridor, the Government in Dublin and partners in the European Union. I have extended an invitation to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister in the North, Nichola Mallon, to come before the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement to present on that project. I hope he will take us up on that invitation.

I caveat my final remarks by saying that I understand this issue does not fall within the Minister's departmental brief. However, the pausing of certain services within the Passport Office over the pandemic period is an important issue that will affect transportation into the future. I understand this had to happen to minimise unnecessary travel. I ask the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Passport Office, through the Minister, to take the time to plan how we will meet an inevitable backlog in that service. The Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs has acknowledged that Passport Office staff are already under huge stress in trying to meet demand. As someone who engages with the Passport Office regularly, I can say that it does a fantastic, first-class job but it needs more support. It needs to ensure that once staff come back, when it is safe to do so, there is not a huge backlog to be waded through. People who are waiting for that service need to know that a backlog will not prolong waiting any undue period for a passport. I hope the Minister does not mind me asking him to do that and I hope it is something he will consider taking forward.