The Government has taken action. The Minister has been proactive and the Department has engaged. The payments under the contract are directly linked to the costs incurred by the contractor and are based on standard international engineering projects. The Deputy presents it as black and white. To be fair, it is not, and I respectfully challenge him. This is a complex matter and it takes time. It is going slower than we would like and we recognise that, but we must get it right and we must be prudent in the managemen…

We share the Deputy's concern. The Minister has met Indra twice and it now has an office in Dublin. The Deputy is not correct about the buses he refers to. They will be used. Two per week are being unveiled as we speak. All I can say to the Deputy, and I think he will agree, is that there is an extensive safety process that must be gone through. With safety approval stages, you cannot just tick a box and hope it goes away and that you get away with it. That is why the software package must be proper and robust and …

I thank Deputy Coppinger for raising the matter. In the overall context BusConnects is important. She makes a point about the listening piece. I know from my constituency in Cork there is an obligation and a real need to listen and engage. I will bring the Deputy's comments back as well. As she has said, the 70 bus will be replaced by other bus services as part of the implementation of BusConnects Dublin. These new services will include the L64, which will provide a frequent service between Dunboyne, Clonee and Bla…

I think the Deputy is incorrect regarding the buses because there are many buses and the new ones will have more than one wheelchair access point. The other point is we have almost 5,500 people working in Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, which is a massive number.

Is that a positive or a negative for the area?

Would she prefer they were not working? In fairness, they are providing. The Deputy can shake her head at me but she is meant to represent-----

I will.

She raised the shopping centre. Does she want the people to work or not? Does she want them to be unemployed? Let us be fair now.

The fundamental point is BusConnects offers greater connectivity, higher frequency, better connection and a more direct route to the city. We can disagree on some things but I genuinely take the Deputy's point that if BusConnects is to succeed there must be meaningful engagement with residents and people in areas that are affected. The point she made there is right. I have it in my city, as I said. It is important planners engage and listen. The overall point is this is a good news story for people, in that there i…

That is why we are doing BusConnects.

I listen. I am a public representative and I represent people. It is important to recognise that the new L64 network will run between Dunboyne and the Blanchardstown centre. The new peak-time route, the P64, will run between Dunboyne and the city centre and both will serve Littlepace. Both services will also lead to Dunboyne. Equally, detailed timetables will be issued and will be set near the time of implementation so that we can take account of the comments the Deputy has made here this morning. There has been en…

I join with the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in welcoming the students from Edmund Rice College, Carrigaline, who are here today as well. I wish them a very pleasant visit to Leinster House. I thank Deputy O'Gorman for the question. BusConnects Dublin is a transformative programme of investment to provide better bus services to more people across the capital. The Department of Transport is providing significant funding to support the roll-out of new bus infrastructure, fleet and services. We have already rolled out the fi…

The Deputy is correct; it is difficult to get across the city. The orbital routes are important. In fairness, the Deputy’s former colleague and former Minister, Eamon Ryan, introduced them. We have seen some being rolled out and we are doing more in that regard. The Department of Transport and I will engage with the NTA to ensure we get a date. There is ongoing engagement around the planning of all necessary works for the route about which the Deputy spoke. I will bring his feedback back to the officials. While I c…

We all share the commitment to enhance the public transport offering. It is not correct to say there is a lack of funding. In the budget, the Minister received an increase of 46% in the PSO allocation. What we are doing - I think the Deputy will support us in this, being a former Minister - is building resilience and sustainability in the transport system and network for the future. We are planning new routes in a way that is sustainable for the future and will avoid the need to have to go through supplementary mea…

Students from Edmund Rice College Carrigaline are in the Gallery. I welcome them and wish them well. I hope they have a very good visit. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.

By allowing drivers and passengers to complete part of their journey by car and part by public transport, park-and-ride sites have an important role to play in generating a mode shift towards public transport, cutting emissions and reducing congestion in our urban centres. To support this work, Iarnród Éireann is currently updating its national carpark strategy report to establish the capacity requirements for car parking, bus connectivity and active travel at all 147 train stations across the rail network. It is a…

I am fully aware of the situation in Carlow. I am very familiar with the town. When you come off the motorway from Dublin, you can see cars parked along the road as you go into Carlow in an area where there could be a need for a park-and-ride facility. The Department and I are very much committed to having an overall strategy. We are looking at a change in focus. That is why we have BusConnects, why we will have the light rail system for Cork, and why we have the strategy whereby a modal shift is being further assi…

The Deputy makes an interesting point. On the other, broader point, digressing from her subject matter of the question, from a geopolitical point of view, we need to look differently at rail provision. She mentioned Mullinavat. I could throw in the Midleton to Youghal line in Cork as an example. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle could have a couple in Kilkenny as well. We have to look at the whole thing differently now given what is happening in the world around the uncertainty in the Middle East and then moving away from …

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities and his good work with Ciarán Delaney, whom we both engage with. If there are complaints, I encourage the Deputy to ask the people affected to log them and we will take it up. It is important we have that data. The regulation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, sector, including the compliance, enforcement and administration of the wheelchair accessible vehicle grant scheme, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, …

I concur with the Deputy that that should not be the experience of people. The NTA has been working to make it easier for taxi drivers nationally and locally to increase the numbers available to passengers. The last year for which statistics are available is 2025. The NTA received 1,815 complaints regarding SPSVs compared to 1,713 in 2014. Complaints related to the condition of the vehicle, driver behaviour, hiring matters, as the Deputy articulated, and fare matters. The majority of complaints, 976, were fare matt…