Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail)

I call on the Leader to invite the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien, to the House for a debate on the roll-out of BusConnects. I was at a meeting last night in Lusk attended by representatives from Skerries, Loughshinny, Lusk and Rush, who are very concerned about the removal of the only direct service to the city, the No. 33 bus, which is due to be implemented next year. The communities have come together because we are very concerned about the lack of a direct bus. It will be replaced under the BusConnects plan with a bus service that will bring people to Swords where they will have to switch over and get another bus.That is completely unsatisfactory because it makes the journey longer and more difficult for commuters from Skerries, Lusk, Rush and Loughshinny. We need a bus service that matches the population of these towns and villages. I will run through the population figures: Balbriggan, 26,000; Skerries, 11,000; Rush, 11,000; and Lusk, 9,000. These towns are significant-sized towns and they will be left without a direct bus service. The rail service serving some of these towns is adequate but it does not serve Rush and Lusk as well because the train station is quite a distance from both towns and it is not accessible for most people who do not have a car to drive to the station. We need buses that bring people from these towns directly into the city without a changeover.

I would like the Minister to come to the House and discuss the roll-out of BusConnects. There are many good things contained in the plan but this removal of the 33 bus is not one of them. We need to look at it seriously before it impacts on very significantly sized communities. BusConnects needs to be for the future. A lot of housing is being planned in all of these areas. While that is fine, we need the infrastructure to go along with that. We have completely inadequate public transport infrastructure as it is and this BusConnects plan will make it worse. Would the Leader mind inviting the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, to the House to discuss the roll-out of BusConnects?