Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)

I want to talk about a campaign that Members will have seen in the media recently about the buses connecting the part of the city in which Chapelizod is located with the city centre. I invite the Minister to come to the House to explain what is going on with the National Transport Authority, NTA, in the context of how it is either communicating or not communicating with the communities in Chapelizod, Islandbridge and Palmerstown. There was a time when six bus routes ran through the village, but because of BusConnects and the plans around that, commuters in the village are now completely cut off from city life, from schools in Lucan and from places in other parts of the city.

Some €4 billion is being spent on the BusConnects project. Bus routes have been cancelled without alternatives being put in place. The NTA has not been answering representations from councillors, TDs or my office. An emergency meeting was called last week for representatives, but that was in response to media coverage as opposed to representations that had been made.I am not sure where the lack of communication is. I would like the Minister to come in and have a discussion about the NTA and what the immediate plans are. An interim bus is needed for Chapelizod, Palmerstown and Islandbridge to get into town. We have schoolchildren trying to get to school in Lucan, people trying to get to work in the city and people trying to get to healthcare appointments. At a public meeting last night, one lady talked about waiting at a bus stop for an hour and 46 minutes. Chapelizod is 5 km from the city. We have commuters coming from Meath, Carlow, Kildare and all sorts of wonderful places, yet people who live 5 km from the city centre cannot get to work easily. There is a proposed new route. The 130 service would go from Clontarf to Liffey Valley. People in Chapelizod need to get to town. They do not need to go to Clontarf. The NTA needs to talk to us about what the interim measure is before the 130 service even starts.

In addition, the NTA was supposed to put bus stops on the bypass before this came to pass and the BusConnects routes and new corridor opened. Those bus stops are nowhere to be seen. I asked at the meeting last Friday if the building of those bus stops could be expedited. I hope the NTA will look at that but, again, where is the communication? People in that part of Dublin city are really at a loss and it is getting dangerous. When it is dark it is not safe to stand at a bus stop for over an hour. I would like the Minister to come to the House to discuss the corridor of BusConnects.