Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to begin by expressing my condolences to the O'Rourke, Lenihan and Fianna Fáil family on the considerable loss of Mary O'Rourke. She was a formidable politician and fantastic woman; a pioneer for women in politics. I rise today to ask for a debate with the Minister for Transport. The Minister for Transport, a Green colleague in government, presumably has the same desire as ourselves to induce people into the use of public transport as much as possible.I have tabled Commencement matters over the years asking for him to come to the House to answer for the bizarre behaviour and decisions of the National Transport Authority, NTA, when it comes to bus services in the constituency of Dublin South Central. I have raised previously the bizarre situation in Chapelizod, which had seven bus services and experienced a sudden reduction to one service. This is a community with a primary school but no secondary school. There is a secondary school in Lucan and families now have to take two buses to get there. This is causing parents to make an additional 178 car journeys per week to bring their children to school. The NTA is charged with encouraging the use of public transport and receives an absolute fortune into its coffers from a budget perspective, but nobody is answerable for the bizarre decisions made to reduce the number of bus services and cause an increase in the number of car journeys. The situation is exactly the same in Inchicore, where services on the 68 and 69 bus routes are going to be reduced. The people of Inchicore and Bluebell will have less access to public transport as a result. The decision has been made and the reduction in services will go ahead next year. No one is answerable for this decision.

Communities are being left without public transport and people are being forced into cars at a time when the momentum is towards moving in the opposite direction. Somebody needs to be answerable. I ask that the Minister for Transport come before the House and be answerable.