Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

Anti-social behaviour is a broad societal issue to which public transport is unfortunately not immune; and those who regularly use and work within our public transport network are most directly impacted by any safety or security incidents that may occur on the network.

While the safety and security of both public transport passengers and staff is of utmost importance, arrangements to deal with anti-social behaviour on public transport are matters which first and foremost must be managed by every public transport company, in conjunction with An Garda Síochána where appropriate.

Nonetheless, both my Department and the National Transport Authority engage regularly with operators on the issue, and the NTA has established a Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour which meets monthly with the operators to discuss developing trends and share best practice.

Further, each of the operators have their own safety and security policies in place, to deal with issues such as antisocial behaviour, and have introduced a number of initiatives in recent years to help combat the issue, including:

• Increased investment on security - for example, a substantial increase in spending on rail security, from €3.7m in 2016 to €6.0m in 2022;
• CCTV - the entire Dublin Bus fleet is fully fitted with CCTV cameras, with up to 11 internal cameras and three external cameras fitted on the more modern vehicles in the fleet;
• Radios on each Dublin Bus vehicle which facilitate immediate contact to a Central Control Centre;
• Text alert systems, and;
• Joint initiatives with An Garda Síochána.

Additionally, as part of my Department’s Sustainable Mobility Policy, the NTA has committed to develop and publish an annual ‘Public Transport Passenger Safety and Personal Security Report’ and implement measures where appropriate.

The issue raised by the Deputy in relation to the reporting of anti-social behaviour on public transport is an operational matter for each of the public transport operators. Therefore, I have referred the Deputy's question to Iarnród Éireann, Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, and Transdev for direct response to the Deputy. Please advise my private office if you do not receive replies within ten working days.