Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator O'Sullivan raised a very important question which could lead to a very important debate in this Chamber. We could have a very good debate. How many NGOs are there in the country? I would say there are hundreds of them. Are they all funded or fully funded by the Government? Is it the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of Foreign Affairs which funds them or is every Department funding different NGOs? We could have a very good debate on that aspect of things.

Will Leader organise a debate in the Chamber on public transport, that is, our buses and trains? There is no doubt at all that we have seen a huge uplift in the number of people who are using trains and buses. It may be the fact that there are more trains and more buses to be used or that their fares came down, as happened recently, which has led to the increase in public transport use. Maybe it is the decisions that the Government and the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, are making in relation to getting cars off the road. Certainly, if that is the case, this is working in some regards. However, we need more buses and trains, particularly from the west of Ireland. The Westport to Ballina train needs a few extra services, particularly a mid-morning train to Dublin and a late evening train at 7 or 8 o'clock. The last train leaves Heuston Station for Westport or Ballina at 6.15 p.m. which is quite early in the evening for somebody who is coming to Dublin, doing a day's work and wanting to get back home again that evening. It is not as flexible as it could be. Even if there was some connectivity to Athlone where people could get the Galway trains. I request a debate on public transport so we can see how it is working, the usage that is happening, and where else we could go from there.