Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader to consider arranging a debate in the House on the National Transport Authority?The authority was set up by the State to manage all matters relating to transport. It has a huge role to play in public transport and transport generally in urban areas but it is of great importance throughout the country. It is critical for people going to work, school or college and it is important in terms of us addressing our climate action responsibilities and ambitions. In the constituency where I live, Dublin Central, the National Transport Authority is rolling out a number of projects, one of them being the MetroLink, for which it has applied for planning permission, along with BusConnects. There will be 16 high-quality bus corridors in the city. The objective of the project is to increase public transport efficiency and reliability but also to expand pedestrian and cyclist space in the city, which are welcome objectives we all support.

Nevertheless, my party colleague Deputy McAuliffe and I, along with Councillors Eimer McCormack, Keith Connolly and Briege Mac Oscar, held a public information drop-in meeting at the weekend, and more than 200 people arrived looking for information. They expressed great frustration over a number of issues, including the lack of communication and the burden it places on residents and businesses to respond to a statutory planning process. Running two of them at one time in one area results in an enormous burden. Submissions will cost each resident €100, during a cost-of-living crisis, and making such a submission in the run-up in the Christmas is an enormous burden. It is also a great burden timewise to respond to and examine these planning applications, whether for a railway order or BusConnects.

I ask that the House invite in representatives of the NTA for a debate on how it conducts its business and consults residents and businesses in the community.