Flexible Work and Commuter Delays: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Darren O'Rourke (SF), Meath East

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and thank the Labour Party for bringing it forward.
The people in County Meath are in a daily battle for reliable transport. Our infrastructure is failing to keep pace with our growing population, leaving commuters stranded and communities isolated. Motorists are crucified with increasing costs of petrol and diesel and toll charge increases. The infrastructure deficits are comprehensive and critical. Since 1994, we have had a long promised yet undelivered Navan rail line and our public bus network is in serious difficulty. Routes from the 103 and 109 are systematically failing.
Services in Navan are inadequate. There were 20,000 fewer trips taken on the town bus service last year than there were the year before. Areas like Bellewstown have no service at all. Chronic overcrowding and cancellation are the norm, not the exception. Even where buses run, passengers too often wait without bus shelters and dignity. We know from media reports that senior Department of Transport officials warned that the Government's transport budget for 2026 will not be enough for any new services. That is simply not good enough. This is not about inconvenience. It is about connectivity, opportunity and quality of life. The right to work from home must be considered in this context.
Regardless of that, Meath deserves and has paid for a modern integrated transport network. We need urgent, concrete action from the NTA and the Government to deliver it. We need real progress on rail and a complete overhaul of bus services to deliver a public transport system that works; one that is accessible, affordable, reliable and safe.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-31T01:00:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21