I welcome this Bill and the debate we are having because we urgently need reform when it comes to public transport. Cork needs better public transport. We currently have no Luas, too many ghost buses, and towns that are not connected. This is having a huge impact on people's day-to-day lives and their ability to get around the city and county. It is leading to an increased car dependency and increased reliance on fossil fuels. It is constraining development and is leading to increased traffic. It urgently needs to change. For buses in Cork, we are way behind what people have in other cities. There are currently no Leap card validaters on buses in Cork, which slows down bus journeys. It also means that people in Cork cannot avail of the 90-minute flat fare that they can get in Dublin. It is not acceptable that the people in Cork pay more for public transport than those in Dublin. That needs to change fast. Across the country, we need contactless, tap-on buses. We need to get people on and off public transport quicker to improve journey times and make it a more reliable service. There has not been urgency around this issue and that needs to change. There are also no e-buses in Cork because the depot has not been upgraded. That has been delayed again and again. As a result, we have an older bus stock and get more breakdowns and delays. I was at the bus stop outside my house recently and of the five buses due, four were cancelled. That happens because of a lack of drivers, breakdowns and delays of buses in Cork. It needs investment and support. There needs to be prioritisation of Cork because it is so far behind. Even when it comes to the information on a bus stop, there is a lack of real-time information. There is a lack of bus shelters. Some of the basic infrastructure that you would expect for a modern public transport system is lacking across Cork city and county. It is not acceptable any more. We also need more park-and-ride facilities. We need improvement across the system. As was mentioned earlier, we also need more local decision-making and input, and more transparency and accountability. Over two months ago, I submitted parliamentary questions around the funding of bus routes in Cork. Two months later, I still do not have a reply from the Minister of the Department. I have written to the Minister and the NTA but we have not got the substantial answers we are looking for to those parliamentary questions. There is a real lack of transparency and accountability, and it needs to change. We need better information and better engagement with local communities and public representatives to ensure that we have a better public transport system that works for everybody. It has an impact on everybody's day-to-day life. If it were serious about climate action, which I do not think the Government is, we would be radically investing in public transport. We would be improving the bus network, delivering a Luas for Cork and enhancing our bus network. What we have instead is delay after delay, one of the oldest bus fleets in the country, people waiting for ghost buses and, as I said, towns that are not connected. It is not good enough. We need urgent change and reform. Cork deserves a better public transport system and needs it now.

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