2026-02-04

Is mian liom an deis a thapú labhairt ar an gceist seo, ceist atá thar a bheith práinneach do mhuintir Leamhcáin agus Bhaile Formaid. This matter relates to the need, as has been documented by others in the House and as constituents have raised with me, for a direct public transport link between the Lucan-Palmerstown area and Dublin Airport. At present, there is no such link. This is despite the fact that Lucan is a large and rapidly growing suburban area and its population exceeds that of Waterford city. Previously, a privately operated service, the Airport Hopper, provided a direct connection that included stops in Lucan village and Liffey Valley. Since the cessation of that service last year, residents have been left without a comparable replacement to allow them to travel to Dublin Airport. As a result, those who want to travel from Lucan to Dublin Airport and who want to use public transport have to make an indirect and time-consuming journey. Not only does this reduce the attractiveness of public transport for airport access, it also adds to the stress involved and to time it takes for someone to get to the airport, be it for business, pleasure or education purposes. I will illustrate some of the difficulties involved. If people want to use public transport to access Dublin Airport, they travel on the C1 or C2 into the city centre and then transfer to route 16 or 19 to the airport. They can travel by bus to the Red Cow Roundabout and transfer to the private Dublin Coach service 750 to Dublin Airport. In both of these instances - and there are others - the travel time can exceed one and a half hours for what is a 30-minute drive at off-peak times. This means that many residents are left with little choice but to use taxis or their private cars. In many cases, taxi fares can exceed €50. What is puzzling about all of this is that several regional coach services, including the Expressway route 22 from Sligo to the airport and route 23 from Ballina to the airport, pass through Lucan on the M4 and stop at the Lucan Spa Hotel. We have made a suggestion to the NTA from my office to improve the connectivity for Lucan residents by providing an additional stop, for example, at the footbridge at the N4. The NTA has advised us that these services operate under a pick-up and set-down restriction designed to protect capacity for longer-distance passengers. Disappointingly, the NTA has indicated to me through replies to parliamentary questions that there are no current plans to amend these restrictions or to facilitate a direct connection between Lucan and the airport. I know the Minister of State knows this area well and I thank her for being here and taking this Topical Issue matter. One of the successes of BusConnects over the past two-to-three years has been the introduction of the orbital routes like the W4 route that goes through our constituency, the S2 route, the N routes and so on. There is a real scope and opportunity to build on the success of those orbital routes, build on the very positive public disposition there is towards using public transport and providing a very direct link for people who live in Lucan and people who live in Palmerstown to allow them to access the M50 via a public transport link and to get to Dublin Airport. My ask today is that the Minister and the Department of Transport consult with the NTA with a view to creating that direct link between residents in Lucan and Palmerstown and Dublin Airport. Lucan's population at this moment in time exceeds that of Waterford city and it is quite questionable that there is not a direct link between that town and Dublin Airport given the reliance of people in Lucan on the airport for business, holidaying and educational use. I look forward to a good and thorough discussion on the matter.

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this really important topic which I am taking today on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. From the outset, I want to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, however neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the NTA, National Transport Authority, which the Deputy referenced in his contribution. The NTA works with the public transport operators who deliver the services and have responsibility for their day-to-day operation. That said, I want to reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2026 the Department secured €940 million of funding for public service obligation, PSO, and TFI Local Link services. That is a significant 43% uplift and an increase from €658.4 million in 2025 to €940 million. I understand that the Deputy specifically wishes to discuss the public transport links, or lack thereof, between Lucan and the airport. Officials from the Department of Transport have engaged with the NTA on this matter and have been advised, like the Deputy, that there was previously a direct service between Lucan and the airport which was operated on a commercial basis. That was a bus I used regularly so I have a vested interest in this and I did always find it reliable. While most public transport in Ireland comprises the bus and rail services funded through the NTA's PSO programme, there is part of the national public transport system that comprises non-subvented bus services, which are run on a commercial basis by bus and coach businesses of varying sizes throughout the country. As such, any decisions taken by commercial operators regarding route scheduling and timetabling are a matter for the commercial company involved, and the NTA has no powers to refuse an application from an operator to reduce or withdraw services on what is a commercial route. In circumstances where a commercial operator ceases operating a specific route, the NTA undertakes an examination to determine whether, with the discontinuation of the commercial service, it is necessary for a replacement PSO service to be introduced to ensure no loss of connectivity to the travelling public. This process includes an assessment of the level of demand for public transport services in the affected area, an evaluation of whether existing PSO services can be reconfigured to meet any shortfall, or whether it is necessary to competitively tender for the provision of services. The Minister for Transport has been advised by the NTA that, at present, there are no plans to introduce a replacement subsidised direct service on this route. However, a considerable number of journey options to Dublin Airport are available and the Minister has outlined them. To be honest, the Deputy puts forward a really good suggestion in relation to the existing route that passes by and stops at Lucan Spa Hotel, and for it to just stop at the footbridge on the N4. I will take that feedback directly to the Minister for Transport. As Deputy Moynihan said, the orbital bus routes servicing areas throughout Dublin have been a huge success and we really need to be thinking outside the box and making small changes that would have a big impact for the commuting public.

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. I note, as I said in my on contribution and the Minister of State mentioned, the ability to interchange with the likes of route 16 from the city centre is available to people. However, I would emphasise, as has been emphasised to me by constituents Mary and Gerard Sammon in Lucan, that the route 16 is one that takes a long time. It compounds the fact that one must travel into the city centre to go out to the airport, whereas a link that goes onto the M50 allowing an orbital route would be far preferable. The Minister of State mentioned the NTA undertakes an evaluation of whether a PSO is necessary on a route. I note that the answer did not state whether the NTA has actually done that evaluation. If that has taken place, I would welcome the NTA making it available in order to allow it to be scrutinised and held up for further analysis. I welcome that the Minister of State will take on board the suggestions I made about inserting new pick-up and drop-off stops on the N4 for existing routes that go to the airport from the western part of the country in particular and those that use the N4. That should be consistent with the principles the NTA has set out in its response and conveyed to the Minister of State. If we are suggesting people can use existing routes that take longer to access from Lucan, surely it is consistent with that approach that we allow existing routes coming into the city from the western part of the county to have stops incorporated in them to allow people to access this. This suggestion is coming from constituents and, from my point of view and that of the Minister of State, from a place of wanting people to use public transport. We regularly discuss congestion in this House. I would welcome the NTA making the results of its evaluation available to us for scrutiny. I would like to see how it has done that analysis. If that is not the case, will the NTA then engage with the public transport market to see if a provider will take on this route on a commercial basis? The population is there and the demand is there for what I think should be a commercial service. However, that certainty and guidance from the NTA will be needed to build that appetite in the market.

I fully agree. It makes absolute sense to utilise existing routes. It makes sense from a sustainability perspective, from an efficiency perspective and, most importantly, from a public transport users' perspective. I will absolutely take that feedback back to the Minister for Transport. Orbital routes have been a success in most instances. There has been huge investment in them and that is because nowadays everybody does not necessarily need to be going to the city centre. That is not everybody's destination. It is about being able to provide people who work on the outskirts of Dublin with a better commuting option as well. They have really worked and I take on board the Deputy's feedback that it would work in this instance too. Regarding the commercial operator itself, the decision to cease operations on this route was solely a matter for the company. The NTA has no legislative powers to refuse an application from an operator to either reduce or withdraw services. I appreciate that there are not direct routes and that is having an impact locally. On behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank Deputy Moynihan for bringing this issue forward. I assure the Deputy that his concerns have been heard. I will convey his points, including his very good suggestion regarding the existing bus route, back to the Minister.