Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 November 2019
272. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the way in which the public consultation process conducted by BusConnects was advertised; if he is satisfied that enough consultation was conducted with communities within the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47891/19]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area, including the BusConnects programme.
I am satisfied that the NTA has engaged in extensive and in-depth consultation processes with communities across Dublin as it has developed BusConnects. Equally I am satisified that these consultation processes have been widely advertised both last year, earlier this year and in more recent weeks.
The scale of these consultation processes is evidenced by the level of engagement they have engendered, such as the 30,000 submissions received last year or the local area booklets delivered to every home and business as part of the recently announced Network Redesign consultation process.
The Deputy is also likely aware that these consultations are on-going and the NTA continues to engage with communities as the BusConnects proposals develop.
