I echo the supports for BusConnects. It is a very important project for Dublin in particular. It cannot come soon enough. I wish to speak about the urgent need for security personnel on public transport services in north Dublin, in particular during evening hours. I thank my local colleague Councillor Supriya Singh, who has raised this matter at many local forums, including Dublin City Council's own north-central area committee. I commend Councillor Singh on her ongoing strong advocacy for our local communities. Her motion passed unanimously at the north-central area committee. It called for the deployment of An Garda Síochána or security personnel on DART and bus services as part of the community safety programme. It is an issue of growing concern, particularly in areas such as Raheny, Donaghmede, Belmayne and Clongriffin, but the progress on the issue seems to be very slow. Let us be clear: this is not an hypothetical issue. We have had a steady stream of incidents, including violent attacks at both Raheny and Clongriffin DART stations within the past year. These are not isolated incidents. They reflect a pattern of escalating anti-social behaviour that, if we do not address it, will erode public confidence in the safety of our transport system. This affects everyone but particularly women, older people and those travelling alone in the evening time. How can we encourage women to switch to or even use public transport if they do not feel safe? It is a public service and a safety issue. Safety on public transport must be treated as a basic right, not a privilege. We have written to the NTA on this issue seeking an update but to date there appears to be little or no tangible progress. Meanwhile, security personnel were deployed on some southside routes last year. Why the delay on the northside of the city? When will we see a proper security presence on the ground, on buses and on trains in our communities? The travelling public deserve more than assurances. They need real action on safety.

Sentiment score: 0.27

I thank the Minister of State for the update. I welcome in particular the public transport safety working group because all the important players are around the table with the aim of ensuring the safety of passengers. The NTA does its own public transport passenger security reports. I understand that it surveys users. Although the general day-to-day experience is very good, almost half of public transport users in 2024 claimed they felt unsafe at least once on public transport. It is just not good enough that 42% of bus users and 44% of DART users feel unsafe in the evening. Those statistics will not put us in a position whereby we can encourage people to change their mode of transport and use public transport. The Minister of State mentioned the commitment in the programme for Government, which is very welcome. I appreciate that it will take time, but the sooner we can see the legislation coming through the Dáil to establish the force, the better. People will have confidence once they see those measures coming through. The Dublin city task force also made it clear that the visibility of policing and security in the city centre is so important in order to have confidence in Dublin city. Public transport - buses, DART and Luas services - coming in and out of the city safely and securely at all times is a big part of that. I thank the Minister of State for his response. I look forward to hearing from him about the personnel deployed by the operators on the northside. As he says in his response, it is a matter for the operators, but there is a question mark as to why the southside's services are manned but the northside's services are not.

Sentiment score: 0.41