Imelda Goldsboro (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Emer Higgins.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with this Commencement matter. For the record, I am asking the Minister for Transport to make a statement on his proposal to establish a transport security force. I am also asking whether city and county councillors are being considered for inclusion in the public transport safety working group. I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport and that Department.

I will set out some concerns about this issue. I acknowledge the programme for Government contains a clear commitment to establish a new transport police service with powers of arrest. This is the key focus of successful transport policing. If the service does not have powers of arrest, it cannot be effective. It is interesting to note there are differences in nuance with regard to the view of the Minister for Justice, which he stated prior to taking up the role, and the view of the Minister for Transport. I am sure it will all gel together. The practicalities have to be looked at. Clearly, there are demands on the resources of An Garda Síochána and this must be a consideration in the mix. We have the rise of antisocial behaviour on our public transport network which is simply unacceptable and must be tackled. The Minister of State knows this, everyone knows this, and any public representative will say we have constant complaints about antisocial behaviour and violence. There can be no place for this on our public transport, or no place or tolerance for it in our community.

It is always important to state our public transport network is also a place of work. It is a place of employment. Our transport unions such as Fórsa and the bus and rail unions are deeply concerned about the protection of their members who work in public transport. They are also concerned about passengers. Passengers and transport staff are fearful. In some cases they are terrified in their place of work or on their choice of transport. Their personal safety is of great concern to them. Many of them in our cities, particularly in Dublin, have lost confidence , which is a terrible thing to say. They have lost confidence in using public transport at certain points, at certain times and in certain places. The transport network is an important place and we need to ensure the absolute safety of all its users and that they have confidence in it. SIPTU and other trade unions have, of course, been great advocates of respect for transport workers and this campaign has been run very successfully. I acknowledge the responsible manner in which it has dealt with the consultation process with the Departments of Transport and Justice and An Garda Síochána.

We must make the public transport network safe for everyone. I understand the NTA, the unions, An Garda Síochána, the Department of Justice and passenger representative groups have worked collaboratively to try to address this issue. This is important. It has been suggested this transport security force would operate in a similar manner, and have similar powers, to the airport police or customs officers. I hope the Minister of State will raise this again with the Department. We must now proceed with whatever course of action the Government has decided on. We must go with it. The Government must identify the necessary legislative proposals and alterations to enable the establishment of this transport security force, whatever shape it will take. We must stamp out antisocial behaviour and violence on our transport network. When I speak about the transport network I am speaking about buses, the Luas, the DART and all rail line services, which are very important. The real issue is that the programme for Government contains a clear commitment, which I had a look at today, to establish a new transport police service with powers of arrest. There has to be a sanction, otherwise it will not be effective.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Boyhan for his question. If the House will indulge me, I would like to put on the record of Seanad Éireann my thanks to Senator Boyhan for his recent collaboration with officials of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on legislation going through the Houses.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this very important topic with Members of the House today. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I want to clarify the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding for public transport but neither the Minister nor departmental officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. That being said, we are all aware that antisocial behaviour is a broad societal issue to which the public transport service is not immune. To help tackle this critical issue, there is - as the Senator said - a very strong commitment under the programme for Government to create a transport security force under the National Transport Authority, NTA. This force would operate and have similar powers to airport police and customs officers. I reassure the House this is a priority for the Government and work has already commenced in the Department of Transport on identifying the necessary legislative proposals to progress this matter.

While in recent years we have seen significant progress on investment in safety measures, as the Senator has said, antisocial behaviour remains a serious issue. It is those who regularly use and work within our public transport network who are most impacted by any safety or security incident on the network. The establishment of the transport security force will play a central role in helping to tackle this important issue.

A great deal of work on tackling the issue of antisocial behaviour specifically on public transport has already commenced and includes the establishment of the public transport safety working group, to which the Senator has referred. The public transport safety working group was established last year to identify measures to improve passenger and staff safety across the public network. The Senator specifically called out the public transport and our places of work. He also mentioned SIPTU and other unions that have run a campaign around respect in public transport workplaces which is to be welcomed.

The public transport safety working group also includes representatives from the public transport sector, operating companies, unions, the National Transport Authority, An Garda Síochána, the Department of Justice and passenger representative groups. The main focus of this group is the creation of a public transport safety charter to progress the NTA safety and security implementation plan. While I understand it is intended that members of the public transport safety working group will help to inform policymakers on ways to reduce the number of antisocial incidents we see happening in our public transport network, it will also feed into this overall commitment from the programme for Government.

The Department of Transport continues to work closely with industry stakeholders to identify measures to improve passenger safety across the public transport network. In this regard, the safety working group will play an important role when it comes to the planning and implementation of the Government's commitment to create a transport security force. The Department will also engage with a number of key stakeholders as this work progresses.

As the programme for Government clearly outlines, it is envisaged that the transport security force will operate in a manner - as I have said - similar to airport police and customs officers. The continued work of the NTA and each of the public transport operators to promote the safety and security of passengers and staff will be of the utmost importance. That is why we will be maintaining strong links with An Garda Síochána because that is where it is most important to help to tackle this important issue when it comes to physically being on trains. I will point out that there were really good days of action on this in the past year.

The Government, the Department of Transport and all stakeholders will continue to develop these new policies and mechanisms to increase safety, decrease incidents of antisocial behaviour across the public transport network and bring to life exactly what the Senator has said today.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive overview of the situation and I think there is heart in that. I wish to reiterate two things. Let us get on and proceed as quickly as we can with identifying the necessary legislative proposals because such proposals will be needed, as the Minister of State has already told the House. Let us also see the necessary requirements established for the transport security force.

The Minister of State did not manage to touch on the final piece which was the sitting county councillors. Sitting county councillors - the Minister of State knows this very well as someone who served in local government for years - are central to community policing. They are also central as community stakeholders and advocates for the community. I believe there is a role there, be it on this working group or some other group or through a liaison of the Department itself, for some representatives of sitting county councillors to be engaged and treated as legitimate stakeholders in this process. The Minister of State might think about that and see what opportunities there are in the future where we could incorporate them.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Senator Boyhan has made a really good point. To reiterate, the creation of the transport security force is a priority for the Government. As the Senator has said, it is important to note the introduction of the force is going to require the development of legislation which, as all of us in this House know, may take significant time. Nonetheless, the Government's commitment to delivering a safe and secure public transport network and the outgoing interim work on public transport safety will continue, as will the continued support and funding for operator measures, such as the recent extension of the Dublin Bus security pilot scheme.Across the network, all public transport operators are continuing to extend significant resources. We have fully fitted CCTV cameras, text alert systems and control centres, all of which have been introduced recently.

Regarding city and county councillors, I know the Tallaght community forum is in operation when it comes to bus services there. City and county councillors have a role in that.

The Senator is right that this issue needs to be reviewed at a broader level. The Minister of Transport was previously the Minister with responsibility for local government and I am sure, given that background, that he will be willing to take the Senator's feedback on board. I will pass it along.