Crowe questions commitment to public transport

The €3.5 billion public transport investment package announced on Monday by Minister Brennan is less than half the amount pledged for new roads, said Sinn Féin Dáil spokesperson on Transport, Seán Crowe.

"This figure is less than half the amount of money promised for the National Roads Authority," he said. "Public transport remains at best a secondary priority for Minister Brennan, and at worst something he is determined to undermine with his ill thought out plan to break up CIE and privatise a quarter of Dublin Bus.

"Is this investment enough to open the Western Rail Corridor? Will it be enough to reverse cuts announced in public transport safety in the last budget? We need more details on the Minister's proposals. As it stands the Exchequer is set to fund less than half the package outlined by Minister Brennan today. Where is the rest of the money to come from? How will it be raised?

"This is another example of Minister Brennan announcing something in an effort to grab headlines without providing all the information and is an example of how he runs his Department.

Crowe revealed that in January, a European expert on transport, Ton Sleddens, revealed that the state failed every single one of the 27 indicators of good transport policy. "As long as we continue to spend more than twice as much on roads as on public transport our transport policy will remain unsustainable," he concluded.