99. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Transport if he is aware that the DART will not be operational again this May bank holiday weekend for the VHI mini-marathon, an event that attracts up to 30,000 participants each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31200/26]

Sentiment score: 0.22

Approximately 30,000 women take part in the VHI mini-marathon. It is the world's largest all-women 10 km race. It raises approximately €10 million per year for charities and it has raised over €255 million since it began. This is a hugely important event. Tens of thousands of women and their families participate in it and it raises money that charities across the country simply cannot do without. People understand the need for track maintenance, know it has to happen and appreciate that days that are quieter, like Sundays, are the ones for maintenance. However, on weekends where we have such a major event it does not make sense to stop the DART from running when there are so many people who need it. I ask the Minister to reconsider this policy.

Sentiment score: 0.20

I thank the Minister. I understand, and everyone understands, there is no easy way of doing it but there are certain weekends where the demand is so high it warrants running the DART. Perhaps it could just be for that individual day and the works could be done at other points in the weekend, which is what used to happen. Last year there were no additional Luas services provided on the weekend for the VHI mini-marathon and no additional bus services. I have been contacted by people who ended up arriving late to the entry point and were not allowed run the marathon. This is hugely disruptive to people. Just because there is low commuter demand on a bank holiday weekend does not mean there is low public demand. These are public transport services, not just commuter services. Relying on bank holiday weekends, especially ones when there are large-scale events, is the wrong way to go about these works. There has to be a way of doing this and managing this better.

Sentiment score: -0.02