Local Fianna Fail TD, Frank O’Rourke, has been informed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) that Dublin Bus will shortly be submitting formal proposals for changes on the Lucan Road corridor which will include additional off peak services to the Glen Easton area.

‘Additional services are required for the Glen Easton area and I have raised this matter with both the NTA and Dublin Bus on a number of occasions.’

‘I am delighted that Dublin Bus will be shortly submitting proposals for changes to Route 66 which will improve the service to Glen Easton,’ stated Deputy O’Rourke.

‘We are making progress with additional Sunday service for Maynooth and Celbridge Route 67 commuters, an improved bus service for Kilcock is now in place, we have a Park and Ride for bus commuters planned for Kilcock, improved rail services for those using the Kildare line with the opening of the Phoenix Park tunnel, and the Kilcock and Naas rail commuters now have a fairer fare structure, and I have received assurances from the NTA that it will seek tenders for the Naas to Blanchardstown service, serving Clane, Rathcoffey and Maynooth, in the first quarter of 2017.’

‘I am now confident that additional services for Glen Easton will be provided once the NTA receive the formal proposals from Dublin Bus,’ concluded Deputy O’Rourke

It has been confirmed to me that Dublin Bus will operate a new Sunday service on the 67 route from 27/11/16. The new service commences at 8.15am and operates every 30 mins until 20.50, and then reverts back to an hourly service. This is excellent news and an issue I have been working on and pursing for some time on behalf of the people of Celbridge, Maynooth and the public transport user. I will continue to work on your behalf with regard to the outstanding issues on the 66 and 67 routes. Thanks to everyone for raising this important issue with me.

Local Fianna Fail TD, Frank O’Rourke, has welcomed the opening of the Phoenix Park rail tunnel for commuters using Hazelhatch and Sallins rail services, as further public transport improvements are planned.

‘Seven new morning train services will come from Hazelhatch/Sallins to Dublin from Monday 21st of November next with eight going in the opposite direction during evening return peak hours,’  stated Deputy O Rourke after meeting with the NTA last week.

‘‘The new service will connect Hazelhatch in Celbridge and Sallins/Naas with Dublin Connolly and Grand Canal Dock. It will serve all stations between Newbridge/Hazelhatch and Parkwest, Drumcondra, Connolly, Tara Street, Pearse and Grand Canal Dock.  The Irish Rail website has all the details of the new services. This service is an excellent addition to the current service and opens up the City Centre for Kildare commuters.’

‘As a councillor, and now as a TD, I continue to fight for improved public transport services for our commuters. We have seen improvements to the Kilcock Bus Services, we now have a proposed Park and Ride for bus commuters in Kilcock. We have ensured that Kilcock rail commuters are now included in the shop hop zone from a rail fare perspective.’

‘In quarter one of next year, the NTA have informed me that tenders will be sought for the provision of an orbital bus route linking Naas, Clane, Rathcoffey, Maynooth and Blanchardstown. Having a regular and reliable public transport service will attract more public transport users. I will continue to fight for improved services,’ concluded Deputy Frank O’Rourke.

The continued high costs of motor Insurance is unacceptable and requires urgent Government action, according to Local Fianna Fail TD, Frank O’Rourke following a meeting with Michael McGrath TD, Fianna Fail’s Spokesperson on Finance.

‘I welcome the establishment of the Cost of Insurance Working Group, and I believe that it is making progress. This group had to report to the Minister for Finance at the end of October and over the next two months will agree on an action plan, which must lead to a reduction in Motor Insurance.’

“Tangible and practical measures must be identified by the Working Group to help alleviate the pressure motorists are under at the moment. As I said again recently in the Dail, there is little point in reducing Universal Social Sharge (USC), if motor insurance premiums go up by a multiple of the reduction in USC.’

‘Ratings agency Standards and Poor’s predicted further premium increases of between 10% and 15% by the middle of 2017. This is on top of the estimated 40% increase in premiums over the last year or so.’

“Whatever the Working Group puts forward in its action plan, it must have practical measures that help reduce premiums in the short term as its priority.”

“We have seen ridiculous increases in the cost of motor insurance over the past year. It comes up at my weekly clinics and is causing significant financial pressure on drivers, and their families.”

I was delighted to be invited to attend the Kildare Garda Youth Awards tonight in Punchestown.
Congratulations to all the award winners and in particular Mickey Hickey from Celbridge, Lauren Cleeves from Leixlip and Stephen Farrell from Kilcock.

It was excellent event organised by the Garda and sponsored by Newbridge Silverware. Anne Doyle as usual was an excellent MC. Brilliant night and well done to all involved.

Local Fianna Fail TD, Frank O Rourke, has said today that he is continuing to keep the pressure on Eir in connection with the timelines for the rollout of their Fibre Broadband Technology, in particular the Fibre to the Home (FTTH) technology, to many parts of North Kildare. He was speaking following a meeting with Eir’s senior executives in Leinster House recently.

‘Eir’s relatively new FTTH (Fibre to the Home) technology is designed for rural areas where bringing copper wires from cabinets proves more difficult,” stated Deputy O’Rourke.

‘‘I am continuing to make representations to Eir in relation to securing adequate broadband coverage for areas such as Newtown, Broadford, Timahoe, Eadestown and Kilteel. By the end of March 2017, over 2,500 additional rural Kildare premises will be connected to broadband by the Fibre to the Home technology. 400 rural premises in the Maynooth area, 370 in Kilcock, 480 in Donadea, 520 in Straffan and 470 in Carbury are examples of the planned rollout for this year in rural Kildare.’’

“Kilcock, for example, currently has 2,400 homes and businesses that have access to broadband speeds of up to 100Mb/s, with further connections planned. In Maynooth, 4,500 homes and businesses have access to speeds of up to 100Mb/s and a further 400 homes and businesses have been earmarked for Fibre to the Home by June 2017.  Today in Celbridge, over 7,400 homes and businesses have access to speeds of up to 100Mb/s. An additional 150 premises are due to be covered by Eir’s Fibre to the Home rollout by June 2017,’ stated Deputy O’Rourke.

Details of Eir’s fibre broadband rollout plans for individual areas can be seen in more detail at www.fibrerollout.ie .

I was delighted to attend the Co. Kildare people of the year awards on Friday night last November 4th in the Keadeen Hotel. It was a great night and a big congratulations to the committee for organising another super event. Congrats to all the award winners on their great achievement and to Aubrey McCarthy who won Kildare person of the year. Well done to everyone involved in making this awards night happen.