John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not use the full six minutes I have been allocated. I am coming in at the end of the debate but there are a couple of points I want to make. I debated this issue only two weeks ago, when a representative of Dublin Bus outlined the severity of the situation in terms of the numbers of public transport workers who have encountered some very sticky situations. I made the point that this is not just an issue for Dublin Bus or in Dublin; it is an issue that is faced by transport workers around the country, whether in major urban centres or in rural areas.

We must look at this issue in the context of the huge plans we have to expand public transport over the next five to ten years. We want everybody using public transport and we want it to be as accessible as possible and running at all hours of the day. We are implementing a huge modal shift to get people out of cars and onto public transport. The goal is that in the next five to ten years, more people than ever before will be using public transport. This huge increase the Government is planning in public transport provision is the context we must consider on one level. On the other level, we must look at how public transport can be properly policed to ensure people feel safe using it. That is why this issue is coming to the fore. It is all well and good to say a transport police unit might not be useful at this point in time. I can accept that argument in some contexts and at some times of the day. However, it will not suffice as we continue the massive expansion in public transport that is planned. That is the first angle from which I am coming on this issue.

The second angle to consider is that nobody should have to go to work in this country and wonder whether they will encounter abuse that day. Female transport workers should not have to worry about working on a particular route at 9 p.m., 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. in case they are caught somewhere by themselves. Nobody should go into any job in this country and have to worry about what type of violence, abuse or intimidation they might meet. Whether we like it or not, visible policing really does act as a viable deterrent. If there is visible policing, whether on the street or on public transport, it acts as a deterrent in the first instance for anyone who is thinking of doing anything abusive. Second, it provides a great level of comfort for the people using the service.

When I speak in the Chamber, I try not to give anecdotal evidence. However, many constituents and others have raised a particular issue with me. I use Dublin city as an example. People might find they cannot get a taxi home and then four, five or six nitelink buses pass by that are completely full. They are left stranded on the street at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. and must then walk home. If we are trying to increase the level of nitelink services and other public transport options at night, we must ensure they are policed in some way, shape or form. We cannot do that without having some sort of physical presence of members of An Garda Síochána. I mention the Garda specifically because the policing presence must come from a dedicated, well-resourced unit of the force. It cannot be like in the UK, for example, where there is almost a quasi-judicial force put in place by the private companies that provide rail transport. The people who make up a transport police service must be fully trained and qualified members of An Garda Síochána. We are moving into a new, modern era, with new ways of policing. In this modern era, the Garda Síochána, or any police force, needs to include some sort of transport unit.To conclude and reframe this issue, on the one hand, as a Government we cannot convince people to move towards public transport and to promote it at all hours of the evening and night in order for people to get home safely. We cannot advocate and open up new transport routes and encourage people to get back on public transport while at the same time not providing a certain level of safety. As the significant increase in people using public transport materialises in the coming years and as more routes become available on trains, buses and Nitelink services, whether we like it or not, we will have to have examples of visible policing on those transport routes.

This has been a good debate. It is something we are right to discuss. We have listened to the many accounts of public transport workers around the country who have to deal with the situation. They are the people facing this every day. We owe it to them and commuters and others who will use public transport to provide a visible policing deterrent on those services.