Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Ar an chéad dul síos, tá mé ag iarraidh a bheith dóchasach. On a positive note, I will speak briefly about rural public transport. Statistics show that private car owners in rural Ireland have a significant part to play in carbon reduction. We are facing an existential crisis. If we think the 25% emissions reduction target for agriculture is a challenge, transport emissions have to be reduced by 50% by 2030. We are not taking that seriously enough and I have deep concerns.

It is great that we have some new Bus Éireann routes. I travelled on a beautiful new bus last week from Inagh to Ennis for only €4.50. I did not have problems with traffic congestion or finding parking. It was really positive. I spent the entire time on the bus giving out timetables I had printed for people because it is so difficult to find out where the bus leaves from and when it leaves. I do not know why Bus Éireann thinks it is acceptable to have four-year-old timetables printed at the existing bus stops, not to mention that we do not even have bus stops in many places where Bus Éireann services officially stop. There are only four bus shelters in County Clare and Local Link has only one bus shelter in the entire county.

The Minister for Transport is completely committed to public transport. He completely understands it. The funding is there. I appeal to the National Transport Authority, NTA, Local Link, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the local authorities to take this seriously. The Department of Transport is behind these reductions. The Department and Minister have committed to the funding. The people who use public transport want this. We need these agencies to up their game and make this a priority. We will fail on our transport emissions targets if we do not take this seriously.

It is no longer acceptable to think that the number one plan is that we all will buy electric vehicles. It is a joke. We all cannot afford electric cars in the first place. Even if we turned every car electric overnight, it would not do anything for traffic congestion or demand for parking spaces. We must think outside the metal box, that is, the car. We need Bus Éireann and the NTA to take this seriously. They must have a much higher level of ambition. The Government is two and a half years into its term and there are no limits to the funding available to improve public transport. We are not improving it with the necessary speed. The Department is commissioning work to make it simpler to erect bus stops but I am sick of seeing old women and men, people with disabilities and young people standing at bus stops in lashing rain waiting for a bus when they have no idea if it will arrive. It is not good enough. It is an insult to people who are trying to use public transport.

Car owners want to do our bit too. We do not want to drive the car everywhere. We would like a choice. We would like to know where the bus is, when it is coming, if it will arrive on time and where it will drop us off. There are no town buses. There is so much to do on transport. We need the NTA to prioritise this. We need it to work together with the local authorities and Bus Éireann. We need to have a higher level of demand coming from the State agencies to transport because the money is available, and the Minister has made a commitment. We need these agencies to take this seriously. We in rural Ireland want to have choices other than the car, even if it is an electric car. It is great to be on a bus. It is less stressful, there is no parking charge and it is now cheaper because of the price of fossil fuels.

We have to take this seriously. Private car owners are responsible for one third of all our carbon emissions in transport. We deserve the choices as well. It is great that urban people have lots more choices. There is still more to be done there too. We need town buses everywhere and we need them now, not in three, seven or ten years' time.