John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My apologies for being late. I thank the Leader for allowing me in. There was a wonderful announcement during the week relating to the shared island scheme, which is going to look at hourly travel between Belfast and Dublin. I believe that to be the economic engine of the island. There is an issue, however, which I have raised a couple of times. I received text messages yesterday morning and this morning from people who get the Enterprise train service from Drogheda and pay full whack for a ticket. There were 60 or 70 people standing on those trains.Where in the world is it acceptable that somebody is paying full price for a ticket, is only 50% through the journey and is standing? That is just not good enough. The Government is doing so much about public transport. That is the way we are moving. We are all rail users, and I know the Leader is as well. We have to make sure that if we are going to continue with this level of investment, we back it up with appropriate carriages and infrastructure. If someone pays for a ticket on any train but particularly in that economic engine of Ireland, the Dublin to Belfast corridor, they should have a seat. I have been a commuter my whole life. It is so frustrating to get on the train in Dundalk or Drogheda in the morning, pay full whack for a ticket even though the price has been reduced, and then have nowhere to sit. People are sitting crammed on the train. I really think we need to look at increasing that infrastructure. We have done it with new rail cars. We ordered 41 new rail cars in the last couple of months. They are coming into service now, which is really good. We have to make sure it is equitable right across the State. I thank the Leader and Leas-Chathaoirleach for allowing me in at the last minute. I appreciate it.