Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire. I wish him luck in his new role. I am sure he will have a transformative effect on all matters related to transport.

Public transport is essential for our economic, social and environmental progress. It is critically important. The importance this Government places on it is a budget of almost €4 billion, almost half of which is in public transport. That is very important, not just in urban areas but, as has been enunciated by other colleagues, in rural areas too. The social connectivity, employment, tourism and economic opportunities it creates are immense. Therefore, this motion is an important one. I am glad there will be support from across the House.

It would be disappointing if the record of the House were to reflect the narrative that had been articulated by Senator Boyhan, which seemed to indicate or paint a picture that the Fianna Fáil group is somehow coming new to this support for a public transport police. As the Minister indicated in his opening comments, it is an issue we, as a party, have been very concerned about for quite a while. In fact, as the Minister also indicated, the Dublin parliamentary party group took its concerns, not just the anecdotal stuff we hear, and actually conducted a public sentiment survey. We had more than 1,300 respondents to that survey. The survey confirmed what we knew anecdotally, that 93% of the respondents had witnessed antisocial behaviour and 78% of respondents supported a dedicated transport police. It is something we engaged with. As the Senator suggested, we met with all stakeholders, namely, the NBRU, SIPTU, Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Transdev. We met with the Garda Commissioner, assistant commissioner and Department officials because we wanted a proposal that would gain popular and political support. I am delighted the Senator acknowledged the Taoiseach's support for our proposal, the inclusion of our proposal in the Fianna Fáil manifesto and its manifestation in the programme for Government.

I am delighted the Minister is here and is able to confirm to the House that it is his intention to bring forward legislation. I would appreciate it if, when he gets a chance to respond, he would indicate what timeframe his Department will be working to on that issue. The issue of safety is a real concern for the people who work in our public transportation who provide vital public transportation services to allow other workers to get to work and for those of us who are not working to go about, enjoy and engage in recreational activities. It is very important it is safe for those who work on it and travel on it. We know from our engagement with the public transport service providers that, unfortunately, public transportation is not as safe as we all want it to be. We know there are hundreds of complaints every month and that millions have been spent on improving public transport safety. We also know that there are 11 CCTV cameras on every Dublin Bus, which act as a form of active surveillance.

I also congratulate Dublin Bus, which engaged with us. It commenced a pilot project that ran for 20 weeks at the end of last year on foot of our engagement and work with it. That pilot project was supported by the unions such as SIPTU, which was very important because the pilot project proved that it increased public sentiment and confidence in the safety of using buses and public transportation. We need to build on it. I believe the Minister will build on that. I believe his proposal that he will bring forward in legislation to establish a public transport policing function is going to work because it is what the Garda has said it recommends and what the public transport service providers have said is needed. The Minister will have our support on that.

I raise one other issue. The previous Government deserves credit for making public transportation more affordable. We are all very conscious of cost-of-living increases, but in terms of the discounts, senior citizens enjoy free transportation, something which we introduced and long protected, and the 50% reduction for young travellers has been very important for young people. I would like the Government to try to build on that and expand it into the future. I wish the Minister well and thank him for being here today.