Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome our Fine Gael colleague, Councillor Barry Sweeny, from Ballyshannon in County Donegal.

I will be generous and say I have found an irregularity in car parking charges at commuter train stations in Dublin West. All of the County Dublin train station car parks charge €30 per month, but the Navan Road Parkway in Dublin West charges €70 per month. It is a privately owned facility. I have appealed to the owner to reduce the tariffs but have not had a positive result. I ask about this matter again, particularly as we talked before about bringing in the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, for a debate on transport. This is a key issue. It is about getting people out of their cars and onto trains. This is a barrier. There is no doubt about that. It is an unnecessary outgoing for families and people in the area in question.

A few years ago, we were informed about 41 new intercity railway carriages that were purchased and that were expected to be put into service in 2023 with the purpose of lengthening the trains on commuter lines. I have had a worrying email back from the National Transport Authority to say that it is re-evaluating this matter on the basis of changed Covid travel patterns. It is also reconsidering locations where frequency is needed and has indicated that decisions will be taken in the coming months on the basis of an evaluation of demand across the network. What are those measurements? We need to be part of that conversation. People in Dublin West are crying out for more trains, especially from the M3 Parkway, Clonsilla and Hansfield. We have been informed 95 DART+ carriages are expected in 2024 but these seem to be destined for northern commuter rail lines and existing DART services. We need a debate on this and we need to hear from the Minister.