I thank the Deputy for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien. I would like to clarify that the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. I am familiar with Loughshinny, Donabate, Rush and Portrane. My grandfather was the sergeant at Rush back in the 1940s, and my mother grew up there and went to school in Dublin.

Sentiment score: 0.18

The National Transport Authority, NTA, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services nationally, working with the public transport operators that deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. In this regard, while it is the NTA's priority to provide scheduled public transport services on the Transport for Ireland, TFI, network, it works with event organisers, operators, local authorities and An Garda Síochána to provide additional transport supports where possible to do so. Its focus regarding events is providing additional transport to support large-scale events where required and where operators are in a position to provide additional services. In the context of this specific event, Flavours of Fingal, which is arranged by Fingal County Council in Newbridge House in Donabate for this Saturday and Sunday, 4 and 5 July, the council has provided a private bus shuttle operation each year of this event, which was run by Marathon Coaches to Blanchardstown, Rush, Balbriggan, Swords and the Naul. However, this year, the NTA was informed that Fingal County Council withdrew from providing this bus shuttle service, which is outside the control of the NTA. This was a decision taken by the council, and it was fully removed from the NTA. The NTA’s priority this weekend will be to cover major events at Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium. If capacity on the rail network allows, Irish Rail will support Flavours of Fingal. The bus operators do not have any capacity to put on additional services to Donabate because they will be servicing other, larger events in the city centre. As the Deputy rightly said, there will be between 65,000 and 75,000 people there, so a shuttle bus would be needed. It has to be noted that all TFl operators, including Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland, have just serviced nine concerts in Malahide Castle, which concluded on Tuesday, 30 June, last, in circumstances where they all provided significant additional resources for each of the concerts in the series. The NTA is not in a position to provide any further services at this time due to resource availability. The NTA has a dedicated team that attends pre-event meetings in order to plan what additional transport can be provided. Co-ordinating transport across events in different local authority areas can be very challenging, especially at this time of year. For example, last week there were large events at the Aviva Stadium, Croke Park, Malahide and Marlay Park, all on the same day, which put constraints on services. Therefore, the challenge facing the NTA and the transport operators is the number of large-scale events being scheduled concurrently. The resources simply are not available to support them all because support for such events requires vehicles, drivers, support staff, site personnel and security teams, all of which have limited availability due to the normal workload associated with the scheduled services. The Department of Transport requested that the NTA be included as a prescribed body in the draft regulations under the Planning and Development Act. This should assist the NTA in working with local authorities, event organisers and transport operators to ensure a more co-ordinated approach to event licensing and management of transport to and from events. In addition to the specific transport provided for events, as part of the BusConnect's network redesign, the NTA has introduced 15 24-hour bus services across the city, significantly enhancing late night and early morning travel options. This has allowed more people to avail of public transport services. In addition, there are 12 Nitelink services running from the city centre to suburbs on Friday and Saturday nights, providing extra capacity during late-night demand periods.

Sentiment score: 0.10

I assure the Deputy that the NTA meets all public transport operators on a regular basis and advises event promoters about what, if any, additional public transport services are available for particular events. Some events are organised without any input or involvement from the NTA. As a result, the authority may not be aware of them until a very late stage. The NTA suggested that there may be a need for more scrutiny of transport availability when licensing such events, in particular when different local authorities licence events to take place concurrently or in close proximity to each other. The Department has ensured significant collaboration is taking place with the NTA and operators so that sufficient public transport capacity is provided for major events. Again, I am not sure whether the Minister has a huge role in this. His job is to bring the NTA and various stakeholders together. For example, in the last week in respect of public transport we discussed Malahide, the Aviva stadium, Marlay Park and Croke Park. There have been many events in the city and the NTA has said it is difficult to service all of them. The NTA is cognisant of the increased demand such events bring and is working to establish a co-ordinated framework that balances meeting demand and efficient co-ordination within existing resources. However, decisions by event organisers, such as in the case of Flavours of Fingal, is completely outside the control of the NTA and Department. There has been huge growth in public transport use in recent years. The Government remains committed to ensuring that public transport continues to be affordable, reliable and an attractive option for all passengers, including those attending concerts and events. I will take the views of the Deputy back to the Minister. Despite the council briefing elected officials, I have been told they were informed by management that hosting the full-scale Flavours of Fingal represented a significant cost to the council and cancelling the sprawling regional shuttle network was a direct measure to contain mounting festival expenses. It was stated that the events, transport and overall scale were being adjusted to free up funding for events elsewhere in Fingal following a request from other local councillors who wanted the festival budget to be distributed more evenly across the entire county rather than heavily concentrated on a single flagship event. The fight is never what the fight is about.

Sentiment score: 0.19

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Department owns, operates and maintains six designated State-owned fishery harbour centres, located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl, under statute. It also has responsibility for Cape Clear, Cleggan and some piers, lights and beacons. Fishery harbour centres are established under the Fishery Harbour Centres Act 1968 as centres in which to promote, develop and carry out sea fishing, including the production and sale of fish and fish products and related activities. Responsibility for the fishery harbour centres transferred to my Department in October 2007 from the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Each fishery harbour centre owns land and properties within its respective boundary. Such properties, which are vested in this Department under the 1968 Act, are to be used for such purposes connected with the improvement and development of the fish industry and the provision, improvement and development of services ancillary to, or connected with, the fish industry. Therefore, the harbours contain a diverse property portfolio reflecting their role as working fishery harbours and the locations for a broad range of other marine activities. There are currently 265 properties in total, excluding pier infrastructure, across six fishery harbour centres, 83 of which are located in Howth Fishery harbour centre. Almost 30% of all properties are used by the Department in the operation of the harbours, providing facilities for net mending, pier service areas, storage for fishing gear and weighbridges, for instance. The remaining properties are occupied by a variety of public and private sector tenants under formal lease agreement and are vital economically and socially to the remote and coastal communities that the fishery harbour centres serves. Some of the properties operate as commercial premises, such as fish processing facilities, restaurants or clubs and, for example yachting, rowing, and scout halls. Other properties reflect more functional aspects of the harbour such as car parking, marina and boat houses. The Department works closely with the Office of the Chief State Solicitor to progress the often complex and protracted legal aspects relating to property leases. A solicitor is employed by the office at the Department’s request to deal solely with the harbours’ property portfolio, the cost of which is met from the Department’s fishery harbour centre fund. While it is Department policy to not discuss individual leases publicly or with parties other than those immediately involved, I assure the Deputy that the Department and its legal advisers are actively working through the details and the drafting of the lease terms for the tenant concerned. Due to the complexity of the multiple leases and the level of detail involved, the Department is carefully considering each aspect to ensure the terms are properly reviewed, accurately reflected and reflective of the current advice of the Chief State Solicitor's office. The Department is committed to giving the time necessary to ensure all terms are thoroughly reviewed and correctly addressed. I am informed that the consolidation is progressing steadily, with strong engagement with all stakeholders involved in the process.

Sentiment score: 0.36

I thank the Deputy for his measured approach. The process taking two years is reason enough for him to raise this important issue here. It is welcome that the Department maintains an open and proper relationship with the tenant and is always available to provide an update on progress or to address any queries. As recently as 25 June, the Department provided an email update to the tenant on the current progress. This was in addition to in-person meetings at Howth Fishery Harbour Centre on 26 May this year and 27 November 2025. These matters often move more slowly than the parties would like. It is important to recognise that all due diligence must be completed thoroughly for the safeguarding of all involved. This is a commercially sensitive issue and aspects of it cannot be discussed publicly. The consolidation involves four leases that were taken out at different times, on different terms and with different clauses. As discussed, this is a process that requires significant due diligence. The Department is progressing the matter appropriately. I assure the Deputy that the matter is in hand and there is no risk to the tenant as all leases are well within their term, with the earliest expiration being a few years away. The Deputy has made some very interesting points. I will convey them to the Minister.

Sentiment score: 0.29

On behalf of the Minister for children, I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue and affording her the opportunity to respond. The Minister would like to make clear at the outset that the safety and well-being of the children in the care of Oberstown, and of the staff who support them, is and will remain the highest priority. The Minister notes that Oberstown, as the employer, is engaging directly with staff representatives through the appropriate industrial relations mechanisms, including conciliation under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. The industrial action is ongoing and has not been stood down but there are efforts to maintain open lines of communication to resolve the matter. Engagement via conciliation at the WRC remains open to the parties. I understand that local engagement is scheduled for this coming Monday in an effort to find a way forward. The Minister respects the rights of workers to take industrial action. At the same time, continued engagement by all parties, including through established dispute resolution mechanisms, is encouraged in order to reach a resolution that is practical, sustainable and centred on safety. Oberstown is the State's only national facility for the detention of children and, as such, it operates within wider pressures in the youth justice system. Demand for places has increased. In February 2026, the Minister informed the Oireachtas of her intention to increase the capacity for boys in Oberstown by four to 44 during the course of the year. At the end of March, she increased the capacity for boys at Oberstown to 42 from 40, at the same time reducing the capacity for girls from six to four. No decision regarding capacity is taken without a clear understanding of its implications for staffing levels, safety conditions and the overall care environment for the children. The staff and management of Oberstown have handled the change in the certified capacity with the professionalism and care that have become the hallmarks of the facility. The Department has increased funding to Oberstown in recent years to support service delivery, strengthen operations and enhance the overall care environment for the children. That sustained investment reflects the Government's commitment to ensuring the campus is properly resourced. The Department is working closely with Oberstown management to ensure staffing levels are aligned with operational demands, workforce planning is strengthened and staff are appropriately supported in what is a highly challenging role. The Government provided €2.176 million in additional funding for Oberstown in 2026 to increase staffing levels, including funding for 11 additional whole-time equivalent staff posts. That includes additional day supervising officers, who are support staff, and assistant unit managers. In the first six months of 2026, Oberstown has been successful in recruiting the majority of those extra staff despite tight labour-market conditions. The safety and well-being of staff and young people in Oberstown Children Detention Campus is of the utmost importance to the Minister. The following details demonstrate how Oberstown cares for its staff. Staff in Oberstown are supported with access to an on-site psychologist, peer support workers, employee assistance services and structured after-incident reviews, forming part of a systemic approach to supporting well-being in a challenging workplace. All staff working with young people in Oberstown receive training in suicide prevention, self-harm mitigation and incident management. Oberstown has adopted the ISO 45003 certification on psychological health and safety at work. Furthermore, Oberstown maintains an ISO 45001 health and safety management system on campus. The health and safety officer in Oberstown works closely with all the staff and all incidents on campus are followed up as soon as possible. These measures demonstrate a commitment to ensuring the highest possible standards of staff safety, well-being and professional support.

Sentiment score: 0.47

The Minister and I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which is a priority for the Department and I will bring his concerns back to the Minister. In the medium term, there has been a significant increase of €5.75 million in capital funding for Oberstown under the National Development Plan 2026-2030. This sustained investment reflects the Government's commitment to ensuring the campus is properly resourced and projects are under way that will alleviate occupancy pressures. However, in terms of the current dispute, the Department remains committed to supporting efforts to resolve the matter as quickly as possible and urges continued engagement through established industrial relations channels. The safety and well-being of young people and staff at Oberstown remain the overall priority of the Minister and Oberstown management. In the context of the work-to-rule action, the Minister wishes to reassure the Deputy that the management has put in place contingency arrangements which will be monitored closely to ensure that essential services continue and that standards of safety are upheld. Since the certified capacity of Oberstown was amended in March, Department officials and Oberstown's management have been engaging intensively, including holding weekly meetings to monitor progress. The welfare of children in detention is a priority for the Oberstown management, who will ensure that children continue to receive appropriate care, supervision and support. They will also ensure that staff are protected and supported in their roles and that the campus always operates within safe parameters. I will end by wishing the parties well ahead of their engagement on Monday.

Sentiment score: 0.64