This is a short Bill on paper, but one that carries significant consequences for how transport is planned and delivered across the country. Nobody on this side of the House is against better public transport. Far from it. For far too long, rural Ireland and regions like west Cork have been left behind when it comes to investment in transport infrastructure. People in our communities have been crying out for reliable bus services, safer networks and real connectivity for decades. In principle, any effort to improve delivery and bring investment into the regions is to be welcomed, but - and it is a very big but - we need to be absolutely clear about what the Bill is doing. This legislation hands significant powers to a centralised body, the National Transport Authority, allowing it to step beyond the greater Dublin area and effectively act as a national infrastructure delivery agency. Up until now, the NTA has had these powers primarily in Dublin. This Bill expands that model nationwide. This means that decisions about transport infrastructure in Cork, Kerry, Donegal or anywhere else could increasingly be taken in Dublin offices rather than the local authorities in local communities. That raises serious questions. Infrastructure is not just about roads and bus corridors. It is about people, communities, businesses and local realities. One size does not fit all. What works in central Dublin with a dense population, short travel distances and existing public transport networks does not translate neatly into rural Ireland or regional towns. Will this Bill genuinely deliver balanced regional development or will it simply extend a Dublin-centric model across the country? We are told that this about efficiency, speeding up delivery and cutting red tape. However, my experience of the NTA is completely the opposite. As a Cork man, it is something that the Minister of State needs to understand. My experience of the NTA is poor. The NTA is poor on delivery. It is poor on communication. It kind of reminds of Uisce Éireann, although I do not think it was like that at one time. It is like it is untouchable. We cannot communicate with it. We cannot make sense. It is about small things, small improvements and common-sense improvements. I have been on the board of Local Link for 20 years. I never took a brown cent. When people hear the word "board", they think we are all on the coin. I never took a brown cent from it because it delivered. In the past two years, we are delivering nothing to the people. We are looking for a loop in Castletownshend. There is a bus service going down to Castletownshend. People are very happy with that. It is the same with the Mizen one. For the past year and a half, they have been pleading for a loop so that the service could go in one way and out another. It is as simple as that. A child could put it together for the NTA. Will it make a move, though? Will it sit down and talk to people? Not at all. It is above everybody. If we go down to Mizen Head, we are looking for another loop. The bus goes in one way and takes the bus out the same road. We are asking about going in one way and out the other. It is not one foot extra. It takes in about an extra 15 to 20 houses along the route, which would be fantastic, especially for elderly people who do not have a transport service. There was no answer and no movement. Now, the Government wants to give that same body powers, pat it on the back and tell it to take over more responsibilities so that it can shut the people out. That is not good enough. I do not want to stand here being critical because we did get new services, and we are very glad to have them. It was more than just one or two. There is the one from the Beara. There is the one going down into Kilcrohane and Bantry. They are brilliant services. However, there needs to be a little bit of a door opened where people can talk and resolve issues. Let us move to the next situation. When I talk about Castletownshend, I am talking about people like Councillor Daniel Sexton, who is getting it in the ear. He is our councillor down there. People are telling him that he cannot deliver, is useless or whatever. All the other councillors are hearing the same thing. It is the same with Councillor Danny Collins down in Kealkill. I cannot understand how the NTA does this. It put forward a tender for Dunmanway, Clonakilty, Grange and Timoleague. Tenders were put out and got back. Prices were got, but it was a case of saying "Sorry" because there was no money. In the name of God, it is like going to the shop to buy a bag of spuds and having no money in your pocket. You would not go to the shop. You would stay at home. It is the very same situation in Kealkill, Bantry and Macroom. Tenders were sought and got, but then there was no money. It was like a farce. That is not the way to treat people. The people of Kealkill have no bus service. The people of Grange have no bus service. The people of Timoleague are begging for a service. The people of Castlestownshend and the Mizen want to change the service and make slight changes. The NTA needs to sit down with the local board. It cannot sit down with everybody, and I accept that. At the very least, it could sit down with a local politician - good God Almighty, we are elected to do something for our people - and give answers. If it does not have the money now, I do not know why it put out a tender for something, but it can say that it will in two or three months. God Almighty, it a closed door because every time it does that, it will have to retender because of the way things are going with fuel and everything. Things have become much more expensive. It comes down to the Bantry, Kealkill and Macroom councillor, Danny Collins, getting it in the neck, and myself as a public representative. Our job is to reply and to fight for those services because these people have not got an existing transport service. That is because the Government made promises beyond its reach. It should not have done that. It has to come back, and somebody has to sit down and say that a mistake was made but that they will rectify that in a month's time. At this present time, though, it is not being rectified. I have talked to people in Mayo. I talked to Councillor Chris Maxwell. He told me that the Killeen-Killadoon section needs to be reinstated on the Westport-Louisburgh-Killeen-Killadoon bus route. That section has been discontinued. Again, it is a huge inconvenience to people. It is like giving a dog a bone and pulling it away from them. It is going to agitate people, so why does the Government do these things? My concern is that, reading the Bill, the Government wants to give the NTA more powers. More powers to do what? To tell people that they cannot have a service? We have to look beyond the usual "No, no, no" to "Maybe". We can look at places like Drinagh, Caheragh and Kealkill. They have no service. However, there is a service coming very close to them. I said to the NTA that instead of creating a new service, it could maybe extend the service a little here and a little there and cut out costs. I can see costs. I hate to say the word "shot", but I could be for saying this. The Killarney to Skibbereen service is being used during the summer, but I sometimes wonder whether its frequency is as necessary in the winter. There can be cuts. I would not be one bit ashamed to sit down and say we should look at the numbers. However, let us deliver a proper service to people who do need it because Kealkill's is a desperate service. It has nothing. I met the residents there. People in Drinagh and Caheragh have no service. It is a terrible situation to be in that they cannot see a bus pass their doors. I have lived in that situation for long enough on the Mizen Peninsula. There were little or no services. Now, there are great services. I commend the people who delivered that. The bottom line is that more can be done, though. Unfortunately, nobody wants to sit down and talk to us. I have my councillors pleading with me to try to deliver.

Sentiment score: 0.03

I am not blaming the Minister of State. He is not the NTA. I will sit down with him, though. God Almighty, I would be delighted to do that. I appreciate his offer. I take-----

Sentiment score: 0.24

I am onto the NTA. I am on the board. I should not have to come to the Minister of State. I am there as a volunteer to deliver for people through the right channels, not to be running to the Minister of State's door every five minutes. I will go to the Minister of State, though. I appreciate that and anyone who offers an open door. I am not coming here to criticise. I am coming here to create solutions. There are solutions there. There is not a need to be blowing a budget here and there because we cannot get every little corner in the country serviced. I respect that. However, the corners that can be serviced with the service that is already there need to be looked into. The Minister of State said his door was open, but the problem is that the door of the NTA is rammed shut. There is something up against it because we cannot open it and cannot get a discussion open on little loops to further enhance a service that is already in existence or answers to the questions about why it tendered for Dunmanway, Clonakilty, Grange and Timoleague and could not deliver. Why did it tender for Bantry, Kealkill and Macroom if it could not deliver? That is wrong. That has to be overturned and looked at. I plead with the Minister of State to look at the Castlestownhend loop and the Mizen loop because, while I will not say I have given up, I have banged so much on that door that my knuckles are worn. The NTA is not listening and will not open that door. I want to meet with it. As I am a member, I want to bring it before the transport committee to answer questions. However, that is not the way it should happen. There should be dialogue between the public representatives and the system that we have, which is the NTA. Now, the Government wants to give it more powers. I am very concerned about giving it more liberty and power when it cannot cope with the power that it has at the moment. I ask the Minister of State to look at those areas that I spoke about. I am not trying to throw a spanner in the works and say that everything is negative, but there is certainty a lot of frustration out there about services that were promised and not delivered and others that could be issued or extended.

Sentiment score: 0.02