Joe O'Reilly: Urgent call to overhaul public transport

Thank you Comhairle. If there's one learning, to use the modern jargon, that we can take from the internationally caused fuel crisis in the country and the recent protests, is the need to augment and develop public transport in this country. Now I want to acknowledge before I go further that we're very lucky in Cavan with the entry service, the hourly service on the entry to Dublin is excellent and the local link does good work. But there is much more need for connectivity in public transport. For example, just to use a practical example, there's Carton Brothers on Manor Farm, a poultry processing place in Sherbrooke County, Cavan, just as an example, and this repeats itself everywhere in the country. And they have about two shifts a day at particular times with a large cohort of workers coming from the various centres around. There needs to be public transport into that place that will coincide with the beginning of the shifts. And the same to all of the major employers in the country. There's a real need now, in the light of what's happened in the last few weeks, to review public transport, to look at the level of its availability, to look at its availability, to look at the linkages between towns, the linkages to major centres of education, major centres of employment. And if it were sat down and there was good logistical studies done on it, it could be done. There were great strides made in the period of the last government of public transport. This needs to be further developed and continued. And I'd like, Leader, that we debate this on some occasion, as soon as you're able to debate it, and that you might convey in the interim to the Ministers how this should be the great learning from the recent problem. We need local link services augmented. We need rail connectivity. Sadly we don't have that in my region. We need more buses, so that towns and villages, and that for health care establishments, into hospitals, into educational establishments, into working places. So it will, apart from the global warming element or the environmental element in terms of the carbon emissions, it's an efficiency issue now, it's a cost issue with fuel, and it's a logical thing to do. And I think we have to go at this with COSTO. And let's do it now. I know things may, with God's help, over the next few days, there may be a settlement in both Lebanon, or a cessation in both Lebanon and in Iran. But even with that, who knows when the next situation will erupt. So I think it's critical that we do it. I'm expecting and hoping for a positive response leader, because I think this could be a game-changer. Thank you. Senator Crockwood.