Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Transport, Tourism, and Sport, and TD for Sligo-Leitrim Marc Mac Sharry has critised Fine Gael transport policy from their manifesto as weak and lacking substance.
He explained, “We have a transport crisis across our country, where young parents are spending hours each day travelling to and from work, often on overcrowded buses and trains or in traffic gridlock. We need investment for these parents now.
“There are hard working commuters and students squeezing onto our oversubscribed trains, buses, and Luas carriages. Fine Gael sold out the Transport Ministry to Shane Ross who has been entirely hands-off in his approach.
“Now, as they turn their attention back to transport the Fine Gael manifesto talks more about taking action than anything else. They have uncosted commitments to institute a new strategy for the Greater Dublin Area, a promise to explore other transport options to reduce dependency on the use of private cars and evaluate the need for underground metro routes.
“These are all lofty goals, but they will not create capacity anytime soon. What puzzles me most is the lack of a commitment to the DART Underground, a project which has been described by the NTA as the “missing link” in Ireland’s transport network and which would increase the DART’s capacity to 80,000 passengers per hour.
“Instead, we get a recycled version of commitments from Project 2040, such as the examination of a Luas extension to Poolbeg, Bray and Lucan, and Finglas.
“This is the sort of spin we have come to expect from this government, who think that plans and announcements will do it all,” concluded Deputy Mac Sharry.