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.