Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that he is deputising today for the Minister. It is disappointing that he cannot be here. I appreciate that he had other demands on his time, however. I thank everybody across the House for their support for the motion. It is a really important piece of legislation that speaks to a real need. It is not something myself or my Fianna Fáil colleagues dreamt up on our own; it is something on which many other stakeholders, be they political or non-political, have been vocal.

Because this issue was raised, I will address it. From my party's perspective, we did have this in our manifesto in the previous general election. It did not make it into the programme for Government. As flattered as I am to be referred to as being "in government", my colleagues and I support Government. We are in a coalition. I appreciate the coalition support from right across the House for this Fianna Fáil motion tonight.

The reason there is such support is because the motion speaks to a real need, not an imagined need. It is not just an anecdotal fabrication by either politicians or the media. It is based on the messaging that is coming from the people. I acknowledge the workers' representatives here today. The message is coming from people who are working day in, day out, all hours of the day and night, on all forms of public transportation be it buses, the DART or Luas or be they taxi drivers. These are people who are dedicating their working lives to providing all of us with an alternative to a private car. They are getting up early and going to bed late. They are sacrificing time with their families and their quality of life to provide all of us with an alternative option to the private car. They deserve our support and all the political support this motion is attracting tonight. This affects all of the public transport users. When I was a kid, I used to walk to school or get the bus when it was raining. The parents and guardians of kids in this city need to know that if their children go out and get on the bus, they will be safe or that if something happens, there will be somebody to intervene to make it safe again for them.

The truth of it is that I respect the Garda Commissioner and all members of An Garda Síochána. I acknowledge and respect the commitment this Government is giving to the gardaí. It is unprecedented funding of more than €2 billion per year. It is all very welcome. They have an endless task. Their job will never be done. This is an issue I will respectfully raise again, however, and I will not stop. We will not stop raising it until the gardaí are a permanent presence on our public transportation.

Our public transportation is just an extension of our public space. This is a real need. All public spaces must be safe. Senator Boyhan referenced the report entitled Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes. We walk in women's shoes every day. We do it every day and we know. There are much more vulnerable people than me or my colleagues in the world and, therefore, there is an imperative on Government to bring the message to the Garda Commissioner and work with him. The fact that gardaí were deployed on a pilot system in Tallaght is evidence of the fact that our public transportation is not safe. It is evidence of the need for Garda presence on our public transportation. I welcome the fact that there were two days of operations last year with Operation Twin Track. We do not need two days; we need every day. We need every user of our public transportation to feel safe and confident in using it. We are all committed to increasing the availability, frequency, reliability and affordability of our public transportation. It will be worth nothing if it is not safe. Nobody will use it. People will disengage. It is a real imperative for Government, not just for the Department of Justice but for all of government, to recognise that this is an issue that must be addressed going forward from a public transport perspective but also from a community safety perspective.

I appreciate the Minister of State's time. I appreciate the response the Minister sent him here with today. We will not be giving up on this issue. We are not satisfied with the response. It is not good enough in our opinion to say this issue is already being addressed. It has not been sufficiently addressed. There is so much more we need to do on it. We will continue to do so until such time as there is a Garda presence so that all of our workers and public transportation users feel safe and secure.