Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise how the Government expects to entice people to use public transport as an alternative to their cars when it does not make any attempt to make it attractive to people. In particular, I raise this in light of what can only be described as Transport Infrastructure Ireland's opposition to installing bus shelters. Take my town of Cashel, which more than 400,000 people visit every year. I know they do not all use buses, but we have buses going to Cork, Dublin and Limerick and now Local Link. We expect people to get out of their cars and stand in the pouring rain. To the best of my knowledge - I may be wrong - in County Tipperary there are only seven bus shelters. Ours is the largest inland county, and there are only that many bus shelters there. To the best of my knowledge, there are none in Cashel, none in Nenagh, none in Templemore and none in Roscrea. If we are to be serious about people on public transport, we need to start providing shelters in order that, when people go on public transport, at least they are not standing out in poor weather. We have had people in Cashel going into shops just to get out of the weather. Will the Government put pressure on the National Transport Authority, NTA, to carry out an audit of these towns-----

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