Jerry Buttimer

I thank the Deputy for this very important question. He is right that the work of men's sheds has been tremendous. Every community has benefited and equally women's sheds are emerging. The emergence of women’s sheds has been a very positive development for communities across Ireland. They provide a safe, comfortable and inclusive environment where women of all ages can share skills, work on meanin…

We all share the aspiration to fund and support because it is a programme for Government commitment to continue to form both men's sheds and women's sheds. The women's sheds do not have the current umbrella body like men's sheds do and there needs to be a mechanism to channel the funding that is needed. Our Department has a number of schemes through which women's sheds can avail of support, such a…

I thank both Deputies for raising the matter. There has been significant engagement. Progress has been made and the most important point is that if we did not have engagement both Deputies would be coming in with a different set of questions in terms of governance and in terms of structures and the appropriateness of that. We have seen record investment in community by Government over the past dec…

How about yourself, Deputy?

The important part we should look at is this debate is about people, first, second and third. It is not about anything else. A decade on from the passing of the Gender Recognition Act, we have a lot of road to keep going as a country. As a member of the LGBTIQ+ community, I respect everybody. Deputy O'Donoghue is right that fear is driving some of the narrative. That fear is caused by some and the…

I thank the Deputy for his question. I have no doubt he will join me in welcoming this initiative, which was launched in September and extends free travel on all public service obligation, PSO, services to children between five and eight years of age. This initiative was announced as part of the budget 2025 package of measures and delivers on a key programme for Government commitment to make publi…

I will bring the Deputy's concerns back. As he knows quite well, the whole piece of the individual cards and the validators on Luas and rail is about ensuring there is not accidental double charging. I disagree with him on the uptake - 25,000 since 1 September is quite a significant uptake. Equally, it is important to recognise that since the launch over 9 million Leap cards have been issued, acco…

The budget of this year has provided for the continuation of the free child fares on PSO services. The Deputy raised commercial bus operators. The previous Government decision did not include provisions for extending free travel for children reliant on commercial bus operators. While the NTA is responsible for licensing commercial bus services, any decisions regarding fares charged by these servic…

I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for the question. I am taking it for the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who cannot be here tonight. The programme for Government includes a clear commitment to engage with relevant stakeholders to establish air connectivity between Dublin and City of Derry airports. The Department of Transport is progressing the preparatory work necessary to establish a Dublin-Derry public …

I understand Deputy Mac Lochlainn's need to get this expedited. He makes a good point about there being no rail and no motorway, and the A5 delay. We should compliment the wonderful Local Link service in Donegal. The Deputy right. I will bring his comments back to the Department officials. I assure him that the current timeline proposed is the optimum one to ensure that important stakeholder engag…

From a policy perspective, the Government announced the national human rights strategy for disabled people on 3 September 2025. Pillar 5 of the strategy, "Transport and Mobility”, contains a number of transport priority actions, which I am proud to say will be led by our Department. The strategy puts great importance on engagement with disabled people. The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, met with membe…

The Deputy’s points are relevant, and I will take them back to the NTA and Dublin Bus. It is not about making it difficult for people. It is about ensuring they can have accessibility. The work we are doing to make public transport accessible for older or disabled people must not count for nothing. It is about that reliability piece, but it is also about accessibility and not creating a barrier. I…

I thank the Deputies for their comments. I do not have the specific answers to their questions but I will take them back. I thank them for the geography lesson on Dublin city and routes 73 and 123. The points the two Deputies make are very important. If we are asking people to have independent travel and encouraging the 15-minute concept of the city, then older people need to be able to access pub…

I thank the Deputy for her question and for her ongoing engagement on the matter of Dublin Bus services. Like her, I am eager to see improvements in real-time tracking, not just of Dublin Bus services, but nationwide across the whole public service obligation, PSO, fleet. The Dublin Bus automatic vehicle location system feeds information to the bus operator's control room, TFI Live app and on-stre…

There is nothing on which I disagree with Deputy Currie regarding the matters she has raised. As she knows, the NTA has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the development of real-time systems. The Deputy made a good point on the app. The rating is quite poor. To be fair to her and other Members, but her in particular, she has raised the ma…

She has made a very fair point. The network redesign and delivery by the NTA has continued over the past four years. It has rolled out the sixth phase of the redesigned bus network in Dublin, which includes state-of-the-art ticketing and providing cashless and account-based ticketing across bus and other public transport networks. We have seen new bus liveries, standardising the exteriors and inte…

I fully concur that a rating of 1.4 on the app is not good enough. I know from my city, Cork, that people are concerned about buses not turning up, be it the late-night bus or the last bus, which the Deputy mentioned. We really have to improve on this. I will ask the NTA to engage directly with the Deputy.

I thank Deputy Timmins for the matter he has raised tonight. As Minister of State in the Department responsible for transport, I recognise the vital role that enhanced connectivity plays in supporting communities across rural Ireland, including in County Wicklow. The Deputy raised it during the last Question Time. I reassure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability and affordabilit…

I understand the Deputy’s frustration. He is right to be frustrated because it is important that we have connectivity. I am informed that the enhancement of route 132 is planned under Connecting Ireland. Operational decisions regarding service delivery are the responsibility of the NTA in collaboration with transport operators, subject to funding and resource availability. I will happily sit down …

There is no excuse for people missing buses or buses leaving before the scheduled time. It goes back to Deputy Currie’s point about real-time information. The important point is that we have an increase in demand. There is a real commitment by the Government to ensure that the services we operate, particularly in the areas the Deputy mentioned, meet the need. Again, as I said to the Deputy, I will…

I thank Deputy O'Connell for taking this question. I thank her for the question. Like her, I am eager to see best practice being implemented across our public transport sector, including passenger technology. As we heard from Deputy O’Connell and from Deputy Currie earlier, it is a very important matter. Public transport apps are not simply about having a technological solution for the sake of it.…

The Deputy makes a very good point in the context of that one platform. The NTA has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the development of the related technological systems. As I said earlier, the NTA has awarded a contract to implement and support a national automatic vehicle location system for all public service obligation buses to Trape…

The point that Deputy O'Connell has made in terms of the users' perspective is one we must listen to and recognise. The Members tonight have expressed frustration in terms of ghost buses, lack of real-time information, no buses turning up at all and being late or leaving early. It is an issue we need to have further engagement on by the NTA, with Trapeze and the Department, in the context of how w…

I thank Deputy Burke for his question and his ongoing advocacy on behalf of the people of Mallow. He has been very proactive on the matter. As the Deputy will know, approximately €502 million of Exchequer capital funds has been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities this year. Included in this is an allocation of €700,000 for the Mallow relief road, which is progressing towa…

I share Deputy Burke's view that we expedite this as fast as we can. He is right; it is an important infrastructure piece. I have not got the answer regarding the Gas Networks Ireland interface. I will certainly ask the NTA to communicate with the Deputy because he is right. The relief road project will provide an enormous benefit to the town of Mallow. The Deputy has, with Councillor Liam Madden,…