Roderic O'Gorman
Dublin West · Green Party · Ireland
“These are men and women who served their working lives within the British civil service system but who, following unification, would be drawing their pensions in a united Ireland. The question of the funding of that will be extremely significant in any talks following a "Yes" vote on both parts of the island.”
“Some 100 extra staff have been hired to the public domain team to tackle waste and dumping and our councillors will continue to fight for a cleaner and greener Dublin.”
“These challenges are magnified by the continued failure of the current political institutions in Northern Ireland to operate for the best interests of the people rather than achieving best political advantage for the parties.”
“In the Dublin Central area, an average of 50 tonnes per month of illegally dumped waste is being removed by the council. It is a huge amount of waste, and this is more than is collected in an entire year from whole counties elsewhere in the country. Our current model of waste management is a direct contributor to this.”
“This means that in many areas, bags are the notional solution but these cause issues with seagulls or foxes or are intermingled with illegally dumped bags. The net result is our footpaths are strewn with waste. Dublin City Council recently rolled out a system of waste compactors in the core areas of the city centre.”
“The solution is to rationalise the current system, put local authorities back at the centre of waste management processes and use this to get a better handle on pricing and illegal dumping through contracts that are right for each specific area, instead of the one-size-fits-all model we have at the moment that is not actually working anyw…”
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“I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this legislation and the campaign group for highlighting the issue. I want us to recall the original provision under which these men were convicted. Section 61 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 states that "Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery, committed either with mankind or with any animal shall be liable ... to be kept in penal servitude for life". It is worth recalling the framing of homosexuality in that legislation from the 1860s, the absolute moral condemnation and the attempts to heap all sorts of condemnation on being gay. We know this same approach is adopted today. It was adopted in Poland up to the recent change after the general election there, and it is adopted in Hungary today. We see this same language online.”
“Earlier this month, the Public Accounts Committee of the UK House of Commons published a report on the Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria. The report suggests that the Sellafield nuclear waste reprocessing plant is basically falling apart. The site contains one building called the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo - a dramatic name. The Public Accounts Committee inquiry heard that this silo is, and I quote from the inquiry report, "the most hazardous building in the UK". Is the Government aware of this new report? It was published at the start of June. Does the Tánaiste agree that a visit by our Environmental Protection Agency to the site in Sellafield, as has happened in the past, would be good now to ascertain the potential risks to Ireland from continuously deteriorating physical condition of the buildings at Sellafield?”
“However, if it is not going ahead, could she explain the rationale behind the fact that a public health campaign everyone says is delivering and is protecting young children is not going ahead?”
“I thank the Tánaiste. As he says, Ireland has a good take-up of the HPV vaccine, but at a time when vaccine scepticism is being mainstreamed, our take-up rates have been falling. A rough estimation is that approximately 16,000 eligible Irish kids are not taking up the vaccine each year. That is why the catch-up scheme is so important. We know the risks from the HPV virus and that it can materialise years or even decades after the initial infection – cervical cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, penile cancer, vaginal cancer – life-threatening and life-altering illnesses. I thank the Tánaiste for his response. Could he commit to a clear statement from the Minister for Health in a reasonable period, perhaps in the next three weeks, telling us that the campaign is going ahead, as the Tánaiste suggests, and giving us a timeline for that?”
“If it is not going ahead, could we get a clear statement from the Minister for Health about the rationale for it not going ahead, and why we are abandoning a programme that everyone felt was working effectively to protect young people in Ireland from the scourge of HPV-related cancers?”
“The Irish Cancer Society has also raised the status of the catch-up scheme with officials. It was suggested to it that a broad catch-up campaign could undermine the initial take-up of the vaccine by schoolchildren, and that there are some international studies to back up this point. In order to try to clarify the matter, I raised the future of the Laura Brennan HPV campaign with the Taoiseach on 21 May. He said it was a fair question and he would ask the Department of Health to come back to me. I have not heard anything since. Could the Tánaiste answer three questions for me today? Is the Laura Brennan HPV catch-up programme going ahead, as was committed to only six months ago in the programme for Government? If it is going ahead, when will it go ahead?”
“The programme for Government, published in January, pledges to extend the Laura Brennan HPV catch-up vaccination programme to anyone under 25 years who missed the original vaccine. I have been trying to find out when this new programme is going to be rolled out but nobody will tell me. I have been on to the Department of Health with parliamentary questions and I have had replies from the HSE. Each time, I am being told about other stuff. I am being told how important the HPV vaccine is, which I know. I am being told about a new scheme targeting young Traveller and Roma people, which is great, but there does come a stage when one feels that somebody is deliberately not answering the question because they know that the answer is not going to be popular.”
“In the past two weeks we have seen the very concept of vaccination being undermined by the incumbent Secretary for Health and Human Services in the United States. It is at times like this that the science-led approach to vaccination we have in Ireland is so important. The HPV vaccine was first made available to teenage girls in 2010 and subsequently provided to teenage boys from 2019. The Tánaiste might have been health Minister at the time. In 2022, the HSE ran a campaign to provide the vaccine to young women and men who had missed the vaccination when they were in school. The campaign was named after Laura Brennan, a young woman who campaigned to raise awareness of the HPV vaccine and who died from cervical cancer. The scheme was regarded as a success and it was expanded in 2023.”
“Let us not pass legislation that looks fair on paper, only to realise too late that it allows sharp increases in rent where stability is most needed. We have some time between this Bill going from this House to the next House. Let us make those amendments.”
“They are practical adjustments that would make this legislation better for a group that is vital to Ireland's future and is already facing real pressures. Students are not luxury tenants. They are our future nurses, engineers and researchers. They cannot afford to live near their universities. They live with the constant stress of rising costs that we as legislators have heaped on them and failed to address at this point. This element of the Bill is not beyond repair, but it does need revision. It needs to recognise the structural realities of student accommodation. It needs to close those gaps that allow for exploitative pricing under the cover of technical compliance. Let us protect all tenants, not just in principle but in practice as well.”
“The Minister for higher and further education, Deputy James Lawless, recently said students should not be inadvertently disadvantaged by the new rental laws. He spoke about designating a certain category for student tenancies. He said that could be part of a solution. He is right. That solution is not in this Bill but it should be. To address these problems, I am asking the Minister, perhaps when he is bringing the legislation to the Seanad because it cannot be done here, to adopt the following approaches: tie rent caps to the property and not just to the lease so students returning to the same room are not charged new market rent each year; and, importantly, give a legal definition to student tenancy allowing academic year leases to be regulated in line with their unique situation. These are not radical asks.”
“Nearly two thirds said the cost of housing was harming their health and well-being. This Bill is not going to address those issues; in fact, it will compound them. Under this Bill, rent can be reset to market rates whenever a tenancy ends. This might sound innocent enough, but in the student context, where most leases run from September to May, it means students could see a rent increase every academic year, even when they return to the exact same room. This undermines the goal of rent caps and introduces instability for students. It makes long-term affordability impossible to predict. Despite the scale of the student housing sector, this Bill offers no legal definition of student tenancies. Such a definition matters. Without a formal category, it is unclear how or whether these tenancies can be tailored to the unique needs of students.”
“We know from experience that rushed legislation seldom results in a fair or balanced outcome, in particular when it comes to housing. I understand that sometimes we have to move legislation rapidly. I had to do it myself. This is not rapid, however; it is reckless. I have no doubt mistakes will come to light in the debate here or in the Seanad but because there is not sufficient time to go through the Bill in detail and to introduce Committee Stage amendments, I expect we will bring in amendments to the legislation in the autumn term. I have no doubt about that. We know that student renters are under real pressure. Last year, UCC students' union did a survey of more than 3,000 students, which was strongly representative. More than 50% of respondents said that housing costs were their most significant source of pressure.”
“I am speaking on behalf of the Green Party on the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill, which has been drafted and delivered at speed. I will come back to the point about speed in a moment. I will focus my remarks on one particular cohort of renters, namely, student renters. On the question of speed, I spoke at the launch of the Raise the Roof motion on Monday. I said the Government was in complete panic mode when it came to housing. The treatment of this Bill is a perfect example of that panic. The legislation was approved by the Cabinet on 17 June and published the same day. The Bill is now progressing through this House in a single day, with all Stages taken today. There was no pre-legislative scrutiny, regulatory impact assessment or formal consultation with student representatives.”
“As my colleague, Senator Malcolm Noonan, said in the Oireachtas committee, unless the Department of agriculture is centrally involved and unless all the stakeholders play an active and collaborative role, this unique habitat will become a dead zone for nature. I do not think the Taoiseach wants that on his watch.”
“I thank the Taoiseach for his comments, but this time we have to do something different. We need political leadership and accountability. The damage here has been building for four decades and the existing processes just have not worked. In place of a thriving ecosystem, we are going to end up with a toxic goo lagoon. If we fail to act, we do not have far to look to see what is next for Lady's Island Lake. Lough Neagh is already described as toxic due to the algal bloom it experiences each summer. There are solutions, such as, perhaps, advancing a European innovation partnership scheme. Something similar was done nearby in Duncannon. That would create ways of rewarding farmers for changes they undertake to reduce nutrient run-off.”
“Will the Taoiseach task the Minister with ensuring that action is taken to stop an ecological disaster that is unfolding in real time and in full view of us all?”
“This is not some new environmental catastrophe; this problem has been in the making for more than 40 years and has been allowed to continue. All the various enforcement and accountability arms of the State, including local authority inspections, Teagasc and other mechanisms, failed to protect Lady's Island Lake. If agricultural run-off is the recognised driver of the pollution of the lake, will the Taoiseach task the Minister for agriculture to take the lead here? Will he agree that it must be a priority to reverse the pollution of the lake? In light of the absence of sufficient action for more than four decades, a solution needs force and the political clout a senior Cabinet Minister brings in order to bring together the relevant stakeholders and ensure that they deliver.”
“One point emerged crystal clear from the EPA report, namely that no improvement in the lake's ecology will be possible without a large reduction in nutrient run-off from land. It is important we do not frame this as blaming farmers, but the impact of nutrient run-off at this significant site is absolutely clear. So too are the recommendations from the EPA on how we can save Lady's Island Lake. We must enforce existing regulations on agricultural nutrients entering the lake, help farmers change their practices and improve the buffer zones around the water sources flowing into the lake. The evidence put before the Oireachtas committee included a newspaper article from 1983 describing pollution in the lake.”
“It states, "the ecology of this lagoon has been severely damaged by nutrient over-enrichment resulting in harmful algal blooms and fish kills." It goes on to say: The continued decline of Lady's Island Lake and other saline lagoons in Ireland will result in the loss of many specialised species, the disappearance of feeding grounds for migratory birds and reduce the recreational and aesthetic value of these waters. One of the report's authors, Dr. Cilian Roden, told the Irish Independent in January last year that the situation is so bad, the lagoon's glow can be seen from space. The EPA's research was discussed at the joint Oireachtas committee on environment last week.”
“Lady's Island Lake in County Wexford is the largest saltwater lagoon in Ireland. It provides refuge for a variety of wildfowl. That is why it is protected under both the birds and habitats directives. It surrounds Our Lady's Island, which is a beautiful and ancient place of pilgrimage. Unfortunately, Lady's Island Lake is also highly polluted. The environmental protection agency, EPA, has been studying the lake for the past two years. The report it published in January makes for grim reading.”
“Due to the irritation people experience, they often perhaps do not recognise the improvements that are taking place, to which many Deputies have referred. While the significant increase in capital investment is needed, the penny has to drop in the Department and the NTA that passenger experience is of critical importance to public confidence in and satisfaction with the delivery of the infrastructure and to get them moving. That starts with the Minister. I hope he is able to follow through on the commitments we have discussed today.”
“We know that transport is one of the areas where we are not getting on top of reducing emissions. We also accept that ordinary commuters are not thinking about that on their way to work every day. On a dark winter morning in Blanchardstown when it is raining and the bus flies by a bus stop because it is already full or a family is taking to a trip from Athlone where everyone has to stand on the train because what was marketed as a five-carriage train only has four carriages, there is a daily pain that people experience in terms of being late because real-time information on the app was not correct. All of this weighs on people's patience and time. People are simply thinking they want a public transport system that actually works for them.”
“In order to deliver some key projects in that review, the NDP review, as the Minister said, is absolutely central. The Green Party calls for an extra €10 billion to be allocated to the Minister's Department over the course of the next five years to 2030. Major projects, including the DART upgrade, metropolitan rail in Cork and Limerick, the western rail corridor, gluas in Galway or the metrolink in Dublin, will not be developed with the current allocation for the Department, given the other transport priorities he has outlined. Deputy Feighan spoke clearly about that. I hope the Minister is fighting as hard as possible for an increased capital allocation. The Green Party of course opted to table a motion on public transport as it has a direct consequence on our carbon emissions.”
“The Government should be looking across four budgets to be taking another chunk off the cost of public transport for commuters because when we do that, they will respond and move onto our services, particularly as capacity grows over the next number of years. Let us reward commuters and make it as attractive as possible for them to make that move. I welcome Deputy Canney's outlining of the project prioritisation strategy for the all-Ireland strategic rail review. I know we had to cancel statements on it today, but I hope we will have an opportunity to discuss the all-Ireland strategic rail review. It has major potential for linking parts of the country that have been isolated and neglected for far too long. It has a major North-South element.”
“I note the improvement in stations where there is only a one-hour notice period for people with disabilities and the improvement to the 15 stations, but we all recognise that there is a job of work to do. The Minister recognised that in his own contribution. Affordability is key. We know that public transport users are price sensitive. It is important that the overall cuts in public transport fares that were introduced by the previous Government be maintained, as they are important cost-of-living measures. I heard what the Minister said about that. What I am disappointed about relates to my call for a cut of at least another 20% over the lifetime of this Government. The Minister was fairly uncertain on that particular point. Funding for public transport services is focused on existing fare initiatives. That is not ambitious enough.”
“We have called on the Government to set up a public transport passenger experience office. That will ensure accurate information is provided to passengers, particularly if a service is delayed or cancelled. It will ensure a revamping of the entire real-time system because it is not working. The different apps tell people different things. It will improve services for people with mobility challenges and people with disabilities. I note what the Minister said about the consolidated contact centre. I see that as progress but while its role is gathering data from the public transport companies themselves and analysing that, what we need is something for the passenger when he or she has a problem. We do not have that at the moment. What is there at the moment is not accurate and is not important.”
“It is connecting many communities, some for the first time, and giving regular and frequent services. This is not just about moving people. It is about breaking down barriers, ending isolation and ensuring elderly people have those options available to them. At the centre of the proposals in my motion is the need to improve the commuter experience. Too often, passengers in Ireland face ghost buses, inaccurate information about arrivals and departures on transport apps, broken real-time monitors and inflexibility in how they pay their fares. The Minister will have heard Deputy after Deputy speak about how ghost buses in particular are undermining public confidence in the transport system. The Minister did a nice little TikTok himself about it a couple of weeks ago.”
“One thing I was struck by in the contributions from Deputies across the House was how many raised the improvements in rural transport through Local Link and town services. For far too many people living in rural Ireland, public transport simply is not an option. That is why, in the previous Government, the Green Party prioritised the Connecting Ireland rural bus programme. We know that Local Link bus services are a key lifeline in many communities, particularly for those who simply do not own a car. The roll-out of additional Local Link services since 2022 has created a fivefold increase in the number of journeys taken. There were 20,000 Local Link journeys taken in 2022, but 100,000 in 2024. That is a huge improvement. Connecting Ireland has transformed public transport in rural Ireland.”
“It will need legislation. I am on the transport committee and am happy to work on that legislation, but we need clear commitments on when we will actually get these things done. Similarly on the issue of next-generation ticketing, I suggest the end of 2026 to have that implemented by. The Minister of State's speech spoke of taking a number of years. The Minister has now given us a date of the end of 2027, which I welcome. That is important. We have already committed €149 million to Indra Sistemas. That is a lot of public money. I do not think the idea of it happening "in the next couple of years" is good enough. I welcome the fact that we have an end of 2027 deadline in terms of the achievement of next-generation ticketing.”
“However, something I was disappointed by in the speeches by the Minister and Minister of State was that, while they were very nice speeches, there was a lack of specifics and measurables in terms of when key commitments will be achieved. The Minister spoke with some passion about the transport security force. In my motion, I set out a timeline to have the legislation passed and the force up and running by the end of 2026. That is 18 months away. I think that is doable.”
“I thank colleagues across the House for their contributions on this debate. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, for attending. Last year, we saw public transport usage grow to 1 million passengers per day, which was an important milestone to pass. This shows the success of the measures that were taken in the previous Government, led by a Green Party Minister, to encourage people to take the bus, the train and light rail. I am pleased that the Government is not opposing this motion, but what I am taking from the Minister's agreement to it is that the Government sees these eight commitments as being achievable in the lifetime of this Government. On behalf of the Green Party, I will be holding the Government to account on achieving these commitments.”
“If the Government does manage to undertake and complete these commitments, it will show that it is serious about public transport.”
“They recognise it when they see additional services being laid on by the public transport companies. Too often they have another feeling, however, which is a feeling of being abandoned. They feel abandoned by the bus that did not turn up. That wrecks a person's morning, being abandoned by that real-time display that bears no reality to the buses arriving and departing and by lifts that are not working or where there are no staff to provide a ramp when a passenger has mobility issues. We have got to make this a thing of the past. We have got to build confidence in our public transport system. It must work all the time and for every single passenger. These eight commitments are about putting measures in place. They are ambitious but I put it to the Minister of State that they are absolutely doable in the lifetime of this Government.”
“39 or the No. 37 bus. Each of the apps was telling me a different time for the different buses. I took the risk went for the No. 37 but as I was walking to get it, the No. 37 went sailing past and I missed it. When I arrived at the bus stop the real-time machine there was not working. Another No. 37 arrived and Dublin Bus got me in half an hour later. Again, it is not the end of the world but these are just a small few additional stresses that were added to every commuter who was taking that particular route this morning. These are stresses that could be resolved with a greater focus on the experience that public transport users have. When I talk to commuters and to passengers, they talk glowingly about their service, about their bus, and about their train, when those services work.”
“That is why the Green Party advocates for an additional €10 billion in the review of the NDP to public transport projects - €7 billion from the Apple receipts and €3 billion from the surpluses. This sort of investment will make sure we can deliver key large-scale public transport projects. I will give the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, a little illustration of the commuter experience. I was getting the 7.34 a.m. train in from Castleknock this morning. The train did not arrive. There were horses on the track between Hansfield and Clonsilla. It happens. I found that out on the Irish Rail Twitter feed. We had an announcement on the station's intercom but nobody could hear it because of the noise of a train engine idling over on the other side. No one knew really what was going on. I had to make the call as to whether or not to go the No.”
“The strategic rail review lasts up to 2050, but I know from my engagement with Irish Rail that it has big plans. It is ready to deliver on significant projects if it can be assured that the budget is there for them. This is specific to the Minister of State's remit, so I would love a clear list of what he intends to achieve in his term of office. The final commitment - No. 8 - relates to that key issue of budget. If we are serious about improving the commuter experience, we have to invest in it. What is currently allocated to the Department of Transport under the existing national development plan will not be enough to deliver all the big transport projects as well as the other transport projects within the programme for Government.”
“The number of passenger journeys have grown fivefold on Local Link services, from 20,000 journeys in 2022 to 100,000 in 2024. We believe that, with continued investment and prioritisation, we can continue that upward trend and grow it to 150,000 journeys by the end of 2026. We want the Government to set this ambition for the completion of the Connecting Ireland rural bus programme and work towards the concept of an every village, every hour bus service. That opens up new options for people living in rural Ireland and gives them real choice in how they plan their journeys. Commitment No.7 is probably the easiest. We have already completed the all-island strategic rail review. What elements of this does the Government plan to deliver by 2030, which is the end of its term in office?”
“We all recognise that the lack of a contactless system, whereby one can pay with one's card or phone, leaves Ireland way out of line with most European countries. The Minister of State and I have discussed in the House the significant contract that has been signed with a private company, but I am worried about the lack of timelines. The situation as currently envisaged does not provide a clear line of sight on the delivery of this ambitious and expensive project, and that is why I argue it is essential that we put an ambitious, but doable, timeline into these commitments. Commitments Nos. 5 and 6 are linked, and they relate to the Local Link services around the country. Due to the investment provided by the Green Party in the previous Government, these have seen huge growth in recent years.”
“This would be a division within the National Transport Authority to diagnose and deliver solutions on issues in the current provision of public transport. It would also advocate for the rights of passengers. Commitment No. 3 is to pass the legislation and provide the necessary funding to ensure that the transport security force is established and operational by quarter 4 of 2026. This means starting to provide funding for it in this year's budget, that the legislation would need to be introduced in September or October of this year and that drafters would be put under pressure, but there is widespread agreement that we need to improve the perception of safety on our public transport services, so let us deliver that now. Commitment No. 4 is to complete the roll-out of the contactless fare payment system in 2026.”
“At a minimum, the new Government needs to guarantee that the cuts to public transport fares that were introduced in the previous Government will be maintained. We will be watching that closely in budget 2026. However, the Government needs to go further. We know that public transport users are price sensitive. Let us continue to make the use of public transport as affordable as possible for commuters by continuing to cut fares. Commitment No. 2 is to demonstrate that the Government is serious about tackling ghost buses, inadequate information about cancelled services and the hoops that users with disabilities have to go through in order to be able to access a train by establishing a new public transport passenger experience office.”
“These eight commitments are not an exhaustive list addressing every challenge faced by public transport, but if they were achieved in the lifetime of this Government, they would make a meaningful difference to commuters all over Ireland, urban and rural, North and South. Ultimately, our goal must be to build a first-class public transport system that gives every person on this island a service that works every time. The benefits that flow from that, in terms of emissions reduction, reduced air pollution, more sustainable communities and healthier people, are all well known. Commitment No. 1 is to a further reduction of 20% in public transport costs for all across the lifetime of this Government.”
“I know the Minister of State will agree from his own experience that, without constant pressure from the top, no major reform in this country will ever succeed. With this Green Party motion, we seek to fill that gap. We are including eight important commitments, with key measurements around them. At the heart of each of these commitments is the belief that we owe commuters a duty to improve their experience on our public transport systems. I welcome that the Government is not opposing this motion and that the Dáil will agree these eight commitments at the end of this debate.”
“These stories are effective in doing so because all of us who take public transport have experienced the same situations; we can relate to them when they are reflected back to us. The programme for Government contains a lengthy section on transport and a significant number of worthy commitments on public transport. However, it is completely lacking commitments in terms of the amount of additional funding that will be committed or timelines by which the public transport commitments will be met. There is not a deadline in sight in the programme for Government. The absence of anything measurable has real consequences. Where there are no clear timelines being worked to, it lessens the pressure on agencies, Departments and Ministers.”
“I thank the Minister of State for attending. The Green Party believes that a focus on continually improving the experience commuters and passengers have on our buses, trains and light rail is absolutely critical to further growth in public transport usage. Too often, the stories of being late for work because two services did not connect, standing at a bus stop and seeing numerous services appear on the real-time app and then disappear, listening to someone loudly doomscrolling TikTok in the seat beside you, or feeling menaced on a late evening train carriage when another passenger decides to act up, when shared by word of mouth and put up on social media, undermine confidence in our public transport services. They are a disincentive to people making the change in the way they travel.”
“I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges as hugely positive: — the increase in public transport usage in recent years and, in particular, the fact that over 1 million public transport journeys are now taken each day; — the reductions in all public transport fares that were introduced in April 2022; — the additional reductions in public transport fares for young adults between 19 and 25 via the Young Adult and Student Card, which was introduced in 2022 and extended in 2024; and — the roll out of additional Local Link services since 2022, which has seen a five fold increase in the number of people using these services, with 100,000 journeys taking place on Local Link services every week; notes that: — further reductions in fares, balanced with investment in capacity, will bring even more people onto public transport; — a focus on continuous improvement in passengers' experience is now critical to further growth in public transport usage, in particular efforts to improve timetabling and eliminate ghost buses, ease of access for all, easier contactless ticketing, and real, accessible customer service when something goes wrong; — transport remains one of the most urgent sectors of Ireland's carbon emissions to reduce; — the All-Island Strategic Rail Review outlines economic, social and climate benefits for both Ireland and Northern Ireland; — the Connecting Ireland rural bus programme has transformed public transport use in rural Ireland, connecting communities for the first time and delivering regular, frequent services; and — people with disabilities or with a mobility impairment continue to face unacceptable obstacles to enjoying equality of access to public transport; further notes: — the Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland's Future is completely lacking in measurable commitments in terms of the amount of additional funding envisaged, and timelines by which the public transport commitments in it will be achieved; and — that public transport needs to be affordable, accessible, convenient, connected and safe, and that this will require sustained multi-annual investment from central Government to achieve; and calls on the Government to commit to: — a further reduction of 20 per cent in public transport costs for all, across the lifetime of this Government; — establish a new Public Transport Passenger Experience Office, which will work to diagnose and deliver solutions on issues in the current provision of public transport and advocate for the rights and experience of passengers, this office will provide timely information to passengers, particularly where a service is delayed or cancelled, and which will enhance the accessibility of services for passengers with a disability; — pass the legislation, and provide the necessary funding, to ensure that the Transport Security Force is established and operational by Quarter 4 of 2026; — complete the rollout of the contactless fare payment system in 2026; — a €10 billion increase in capital for public transport in the National Development Plan review; — ensure the full implementation of the Connecting Ireland rural bus programme, expanding on current levels of services and working towards an "every village, every hour" bus service; — achieve 150,000 journeys per week on Local Link services by Quarter 4 2026; and — outline in the Revised National Development Plan those recommendations of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review that the Government plans to deliver by 2030.”
“This is something that I and other Deputies will raise with the Minister in the future. However, right now, I cannot stress enough the urgency of the Department coming back and getting an answer to the emergency works application by the school to allow this to proceed. I ask the Minister of State to press this with the Minister and the Department of Education and Youth.”
“I probably should have said earlier that I sat on the board of management of this school for about four and a half years, during which time it undertook some work on the roof. It was a massive job. Work of this nature means that classrooms are not available because of the noise and disturbance caused. Summer is the ideal time to do this work. If we are waiting for the Department to make up its mind, it has not even indicated that it will make up its mind. It will go back and tell the principal the next steps. If we eventually get a positive outcome from the Department, it is not looking like this will be decided any time soon. There is a bigger question about Coolmine and the need to do a complete rebuild. The building is more than 50 years old. It has been a great school but it is not fit for purpose for 1,000 students.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response. The line, "The Department advised the school to obtain a new leak detection test", when there are a hundred buckets on the floor, is worthy of "Yes Minister". The school put in an application for an upgrade because it does need a new roof. It was then told, "No, you cannot go under that pathway; you have to go for an emergency works pathway." The school has now done that, which is why this delay has occurred. The Minister of State has told me in detail about the climate action summer works scheme. That is a great scheme - it is fantastic - but that is not relevant here because this is not a matter of energy saving or climate action; it is a matter of the roof leaking in a hundred places. I do not feel that this issue is being addressed by the Department with the urgency that is required.”
“I want the Minister of State to confirm to me that the school's emergency works application, No. 3484, has been granted and that it will have the opportunity to go rapidly to tender, get this work done, or as much of it as can be done, over the summer holidays, and be ready for students coming back in September.”