Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

He probably will.

I appreciate that the motion is very timely. I will address some of the points that Senators O'Loughlin and Clifford-Lee raised. We are not opposing the motion. It is very much in line with the programme for Government commitments that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the regional group crafted and put together. Public transport is critically important to the growth of our country and, as Senator Clifford-Lee said, to people's quality of life. More and more people are using public transport. That is good and we need to support it. We need to increase infrastructure throughout the country.

The Seanad will be aware that in the programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, we are strongly committed to enhancing transport networks and infrastructure development.Public transport has a key role to play in this. To support this objective my Department has secured just short of €660 million of funding for public service obligation, PSO, and Local Link services. Both Senators have already mentioned the importance of these services, particularly in our rural communities. I want to see a further expansion of those services. The €660 million package includes funding for the continuation of existing various public service fare initiatives and for the extension of free child fares on PSO services to include children between five and eight years of age. We need to get that in. That was agreed before and we need to get that implemented this year. I will also look further at how we can extend that around secondary schools to kids who have reached the age of 16 - those teenagers aged 16 to 18 who are still in school. We can make things easier for them there in the system.

I will also touch on transport security and then I will come back to the NDP. People need to feel safe on our public transport systems across the country, particularly on our buses, trains and the Luas. Let us be frank and say that in some instances people do not feel safe. We have seen far too much antisocial behaviour on our public transport systems. I am very pleased that within the programme for Government there is a key commitment, which Fianna Fáil made in our manifesto, for the establishment of a transport police. I pay tribute to Senator Fitzpatrick for the role she played in that regard along with other Dublin Oireachtas Members such as Senator Clifford-Lee and our Fine Gael colleagues who agreed to our proposals. I want to assure Members that I have already started work on this. There have been discussions with the Minister for Justice, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. This would be a transport security force established under the NTA. The primary drivers of the legislation will sit within me and my Department. I have already asked and work is already being prepared on that. I expect I will come to this House with legislative changes. It is critically important we do that. I want to see that up and running as expeditiously as possible. It will need to be underpinned by legislation.

Senators O'Loughlin and Clifford-Lee have already mentioned fairer fares. In April 2023, the NTA in its position as regulator published a new national fares strategy and last year published its fare determination aimed at simplifying fares and introducing more a equitable distance-based structure. There are anomalies along the line. Senator Clifford-Lee mentioned the northern line. Newbridge has also been mentioned. For people who are further away, there are quite significant increases in rail fares. The first phase of that fares determination was introduced last June. My Department is engaging with the NTA on phase 2 right now. The implementation of the rail element of phase 2 requires technical updates to systems and machines, Leap cards and various things. I am expecting that to be completed in the coming months. I want to see if that can be sped up. I have had initial meetings with the NTA. We have to put the pressure on. I want all our transport agencies, and in particular our operators, to be more customer focused. We talk in big investment terms about new routes and rightly so, including the MetroLink that we will see. I was at the launch of the MetroLink project in 2005. This speaks about Irish planning. We are 20 years on and we have not a sod turned on projects like that. It takes too long to deliver projects. This is why in this House in the last Oireachtas I brought forward the Planning and Development Act 2024. Senator Noonan is here and he was a key part of that. Thankfully the Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, supported by some Independents, passed that legislation because we need that legislation. Other opposed it and that would mean we are just doing the same things again and delaying project delivery. We cannot have that. It is critically important that we move forward with it.

With regard to public transport services, I have reiterated to our partners that a customer focus is absolutely required across the board. As part of that, we are enhancing services under programmes such as Connecting Ireland and BusConnects. We are implementing further early morning and more late-night bus services. Dublin and Cork already have some 24-hour bus services and more are to follow, with plans for Limerick and Galway through BusConnects. We have opportunities to do more there. Hours of operation of many town and city bus service have been expanded. Irish Rail has increased the number of early-morning and late-evening train services between Dublin and the regional cities. The Government has an ambitious vision to transform transport services and infrastructure nationwide. We can do that. We have a national development plan that underpins this. We will have a review of the NDP. As the Minister for Transport, I can say that we will do our level best to secure the additional investment that is needed. If we are to unlock the potential we have across our regions, we have to improve our public transport. From the perspective of our climate targets, our environment and our quality of life, we will be doing that. We have been successful so far. There were many detractors over the years, including when we were developing the Luas and the Luas cross city, the Dublin Port tunnel and all of the various plans. We have Cork light rail coming on track. A lot of good things will be in place. Since the launch of the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan and bus services in the towns, 150 new or enhanced bus services have been introduced under Connecting Ireland, providing 190 new towns and villages with connections to the transport network. That is significant.

The NTA is upgrading bus stop infrastructure on a phased basis throughout Ireland. Better route and timetable information is being provided at all stops. As we are touching on that, punctuality is critical and information is critical for commuters. I have publicly announced my displeasure in recent weeks with the phenomenon of ghost buses - that is the technical term, or at least the term that people understand - and buses not turning up as scheduled. It is a major frustration for people trying to get to work and trying to get to events. The bus is showing up on the app but then it just disappears and is gone. I have met with agencies and bus operators on that. A full review is being done on what happened recently and a new app will come forward as well. We really need to improve that and be more customer focused. Some of these issues relate to an inability to fill vacancies for drivers and mechanics. We need clearer sight of the risks to our transport system, particularly for operators that are winning contracts. I would say to the NTA and others that when we are assessing contracts and new routes, we need to make sure the business and resource plan is robust and there is headroom and contingency within the plan to deal with things like absences and vacancies. In the programme for Government, we have committed to enhancing and supporting the delivery of a skilled workforce to maintain and operate public transport vehicles. We are establishing a task force to deliver on that commitment within the Department.

As more people are using public transport, such bus and rail, right across the country, we must make sure those who have issues with accessibility and those with disabilities and special needs are catered for like any other passenger or any other customer. Just this week the Taoiseach convened a meeting on disabilities. The programme for Government is very strong in the area of disabilities. It has to be something on which all of us as Oireachtas Members, in government and in opposition, work hard together to deliver. I am very serious about ensuring we no longer have situations where someone who has mobility issues is treated differently in a public transport network from someone else. I feel really strongly about that. Senator Clifford-Lee will know well that heretofore, people using the northern line have had to book 24 hours in advance for a rail journey just because they are mobility impaired and might have a special need. The new carriages we are receiving, which will start on the northern line - in case I am accused of being parochial by bringing them into my own backyard in the northern line, I should mention that this decision was made by my predecessor, the former Minister, Eamon Ryan - are equipped with automatic ramps so there is full accessibility on them. Our bus fleet has improved substantially. There are still some issues with Bus Éireann and some of the older buses as well.

The NTA manages the public transport accessibility retrofit programme. If Senators are not acquainted with this, I ask them to have a look at it. It aims to make facilities accessible for everyone. Senator O'Loughlin spoke about other ancillary facilities. I am pleased to confirm that the allocation for 2025 is €25 million, which is a 60% year-on-year increase in funding. That will be for upgrading of stations and terminals across the country to make sure they are more accessible for people. Members will be aware that my Department and its agencies are progressively working to make our public transport network more accessible, but first of all by ensuring that new services and infrastructure are accessible. Design is critically important. The new routes that are being designed for BusConnects are all being designed with maximum accessibility. We must do a fair bit of work on the retrofitting of existing facilities. Route planning now is absolutely on an accessible-for-all basis.Newer systems, such as the Luas, are fully accessible and all new buses purchased by the NTA are fully accessible. The new DART+ carriages, which I have mentioned already, will have an automated ramp and I assure the House the Government is committed to making public transport more accessible in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and in the forthcoming national disability strategy, which is really important and will be published shortly.

The past few years have seen significant investment to create a strategic public transport network and there have been several positive developments to date. An Bord Pleanála has approved 11 of the 12 core bus corridors as part of BusConnects Dublin. The first of these corridors will start construction in Dublin later this year, providing for faster and more reliable bus services. An oral hearing was heard on MetroLink's planning application last year. A significant milestone was reached with the appointment of a very experienced programme director to deliver the project.

The Seanad will note work is ongoing to expand light rail. Our planning application for the Luas extension to Finglas was submitted to An Bord Pleanála just last November. In relation to heavy rail, conditional and full planning approval was provided in 2024 by An Bord Pleanála for DART+ West and DART+ South West projects, respectively. Work is now ongoing to bring these projects to the next stage.

A planning application was also lodged for DART+ Coastal North last year and it is on this northern line from Dublin to Drogheda - I see Senator Comyn is here as well - that the public will get to experience the first element of the DART+ programme with the new battery-powered electric DART carriages, which are currently undergoing testing and will enter into service next year. They will also be fully accessible and battery charged as well and will run along the northern commuter line.

Outside Dublin, we are also investing heavily in our rail network. Works on the Cork area commuter rail programme are well under way, with a new through platform at Kent Station expected to open in the coming weeks. Double tracking and resignalling work is ongoing, all of which will enable the Cork commuter services to expand over the coming years. Galway's Ceannt train station is now being redeveloped. I visited that last year and there was good cross-department co-operation on that. It is being redeveloped and is scheduled to be completed next year.

A new train station is under construction in Waterford, which is a really significant development for Waterford along with the new bridge there and the moving of the train station in Waterford. That is part of a series of station works across the country. I am also pleased to say planning permission was granted last year for works on Oranmore station, which provides for a passing loop at the existing station and a second platform.

In conclusion, last year my Department, together with the Department for Infrastructure in the North of Ireland, published the final report of the all-island strategic rail review. This review envisages hourly train frequencies between cities and the future electrification of intercity lines. Lots of good work is happening and there is lots more to do in that space. There is investment in place. There will be a national development plan review to secure additional funding and we will look for Senators' support on that and not just on the projects in their own areas like both Senators who have spoken already put on the floor of the House. Each and every Senator and the area in which he or she lives will have transport projects that Members will want to see advanced, commenced or completed.

The whole focus of this year and the next five years of this Government is on delivery. It is delivery on transport and on all of the Departments the Government is working through. Specifically, the next five years have the potential to be transformational for public transport in this country and we have to work hard together to make sure we deliver it.