Public Transport Dail Éireann — 2026-04-30 ============================================================ Darragh O'Brien (FF), Dublin Fingal East The NTA is critical in the context of the planning and provision of services and continues to keep public transport connectivity, including access to Dublin Airport, under ongoing and active review. As the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, mentioned in a previous response, there was a substantial increase, about 46%, in the public service obligation in the budget to enhance and improve our services. While there is no direct public transport from Dublin Mid-West to the airport, a range of convenient and flexible travel options are available. Many travel by rail into the city centre and out from there. Looking ahead, the NTA is continuing to invest in additional orbital bus services which will provide more options to reach Dublin Airport by public transport. For example, route W4 which currently operates between Tallaght and Blanchardstown will connect with the planned new route N8 at Blanchardstown which will serve Dublin Airport via the M50. A further welcome development is included in the Dublin Airport Authority's planning application currently under consideration to increase passenger numbers to 40 million per annum. As part of this proposal, the DAA has sought approval for a new ground transportation centre which will consolidate airport bus services in a single location and, where possible, segregate general but traffic from pedestrian movements. This would provide priority access to bus stop facilities and increase bus bay capacities, supporting the continued growth of public transport use to make journeys to the airport. In addition there is MetroLink, which will start construction by the end of next year. It is fully funded under the national development plan and will integrate directly with Iarnród Éireann services at Glasnevin, thereby significantly improving public transport access to Dublin Airport. Deputy Moynihan asked for an update on DART+ South West. We are committed to that and are doing it as a Government. It will be a critical enabler of improving public transport services in what is a major growth area. There has been significant housing development in the area and new families moving in. We have to ensure that the public transport offering is commensurate with population growth. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-30/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-30