We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE GREEN PARTY’S planned office of Punctuality and Reliability for public transport has been described by one party member as sounding “like something out of Harry Potter”.
However Neasa Hourigan, who’s hoping to retain her seat in Dublin Central, said the new function was essential in order to centralise and improve customer service in the transport sector.
Hourigan made the comments on Custom House Quay in Dublin city centre this morning during the unveiling of the Greens’ programme for public transport investment.
She was joined by fellow TDs Ossian Smyth and Joe O’Brien where she said the office will work within the National Transport Authority (NTA).
The NTA falls within the Department of Transport. The Greens want the new office of punctuality to be assigned to a junior minister working across that department.
It will work to banish so-called ghost buses and link-up bus and rail services in areas reliant on different modes of transport.
Speaking on the newly proposed office, Deputy Hourigan said:
“That office is going to sit within the NTA and have a minister responsible for transport operations, so obviously in our €10 billion investment in public transport, there’s going to be a huge focus on new lines and more lines.
“We have to make sure the ones we have work really well and make sense together. These two things together will build that trust and make sure that as many people as possible can use it.”
The Green Party pledges to pump €10 billion into the national transport infrastructure in a bid to “supercharge” the delivery of major public transport projects including Metrolink, Dart+, Luas extensions and several new rail and bus links around Ireland.
Smyth, who’s currently a junior minister for public procurement and the circular economy, said the proposed office will focus on transparency in addition to increased bus and driver numbers.
“The idea is that you have an office focused on the metrics of reliability, of services showing up on time, delivering passengers to their destination on time, that it’s well-resourced, and also that there’s money available for additional drivers and additional buses if that’s what the problem is.”
He added: “The idea is to make sure that there is relevant focus on that, that there’s clear information, transparent information available, that there are people working on it, and that that becomes a key performance indicator for public transport.”
Speaking on alternative proposals by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for transport investment, O’Brien said he is “very unimpressed” with the attitude of the other coalition parties’ in relation to public transport infrastructure.
“I’m a commuter that uses public transport and I would be very unimpressed by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s commitment to public transport expansion at the moment,” he said.
O’Brien continued: “We’re bringing electric trains to Balbriggan, north county Dublin, but in order to do that… we need to commit the investment. We’re the only party that’s committing to growing public transport on the scale that we need to.”
Fianna Fáil proposes a €3.6 billion injection into transport networks nationwide to promote increased business investment in the economy and the supply of new housing.
According to Fine Gael’s manifesto, the party is committed to completing the MetroLink, Dart+ and Luas extensions in Dublin, accompanied by the introduction of a 20% cut in public transport fares.
The party states that all transport-related infrastructure projects above €100 million will be overseen by the minister of its newly proposed Department Infrastructure, Climate and Transport.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say