The reply by the Minister of Transport to a parliamentary question from Deputy Joan Burton shows that only 22% of the Blanchardstown bus corridor is a dedicated QBC. This is the lowest percentage of all 11 QBC’s in the Greater Dublin Area, many of which have greater than 50% dedicated QBC, while 80% of the Malahide route is a dedicated QBC.

On the Blanchardstown 16.4km route, 32% of the inbound corridor has bus priority provision, compared with only 12% on the outbound corridor.

In a recent meeting with Deputy Burton, Dublin Bus revealed that average journey times from Blanchardstown are now between 90 to 110 minutes because of delays at different pinch points along the way including Blanchardstown Centre, Manor Street, Prussia St. and the Quays. They predict that journey times will increase further unless major improvements are made to the existing QBC.

“I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Transport that €200,000 has been allocated to the development of the Blanchardstown QBC. Many residents in Dublin West rely on the bus service on a daily basis, yet can be subjected to almost a four hour round trip just to get to work and back” said Deputy Burton.

“I will continue to pursue the Minister for Transport to urgently progress the development of the Blanchardstown QBC, and to provide funding for additional buses on the route to ensure that bus journeys for Dublin 15 residents are comparable to the rest of the city”.

The Minister of State at the OPW has confirmed to Deputy Joan Burton, Labour TD for Dublin West, that preparations are underway for the submission of a planning application to convert the Department of Justice Building on Main Street, Blanchardstown (the old AIB building) for use as a Driving Test Centre.

“The establishment of a local test centre in Blanchardstown, while very welcome, will not be enough to tackle the backlog of drivers in the area waiting to sit their tests” said Deputy Burton.

“At present, the majority of Dublin 15 residents take their tests in Finglas, Raheny or Navan. The latest figures show that there is a waiting time of 51 weeks for the Finglas test centre, of 54 weeks for the Raheny test centre and of 60 weeks for the Navan test centre. This is well above the national average of 34 weeks”

“The Labour Party believes that the State should set a target of 6 weeks for the national average waiting time for a driving test. In order to do this, we have calculated that, along with other measures detailed in the recently published Labour Party Policy Document “Driving for Life”, 30 more temporary testers are required over a two year period from 2007 to clear the existing backlogs”.

“I strongly welcome the progress being made to establish a driving test centre in Blanchardstown and I call on the government to appoint the required temporary testers to ensure that the new facility in Blanchardstown will be used to full capacity when it is completed.”

The IBM announcement of a multi million euro investment at its Mulhuddart operation is a fantastic vote of confidence in Blanchardstown’s status as the capital of Ireland’s Silicon Valley, according to Labour TD Joan Burton.

“ IBM decided to set up its Mulhuddart operation in late 1996 on the same day as the then Rainbow Government announced the establishment of the Institute of Technology at Blanchardstown. One was linked to the other and the success of each in the intervening years confirms the judgment made at the time to focus on attracting this type of investment to Dublin 15” Joan Burton said.

“The location of an IT at Blanchardstown was made by the Labour Ministers for Education and Finance in that Rainbow Government after a long campaign by the local Labour Party. The new announcement by IBM should encourage the Institute to expand further to offer Irish students the qualifications they will need to secure involvement in IBM’s ambitious R n D work.

This is good news for Blanchardstown and good news for Ireland, Deputy Burton concluded.

In a meeting with Deputy Joan Burton, Dublin Bus have revealed that commuters travelling from Blanchardstown are facing the longest journey times in the city.

Dublin Bus admitted that there is insufficient capacity on the network and that congestion and increasing distances are extending journey times to unacceptable levels.

However the government is continuing to stall on whether or not to invest in extra buses for the Dublin Bus network. Currently Dublin Bus need 100 buses this year to replace worn and clapped out buses in the Dublin area and a further 200 buses immediately to bring the service on existing QBC’s and in developing areas to an acceptable level. In addition they need 225 additional buses over the next 3 years to expand services in areas like Blanchardstown.

“It’s a shame” said Deputy Burton, “that Minister Cullen seems unable to make a decision either because he wants to privatise part of the network or because he simply doesn’t want to give extra resources to Dublin Bus”.

Dublin Bus’ latest figures show that average journey times from Blanchardstown are now between 90 to 110 minutes because of delays at different pinch points along the way including Blanchardstown Centre, Manor Street, Prussia St. and the Quays. They predict that journey times will increase further unless major improvements are made to the existing QBC.

Dublin Bus have advised Deputy Burton that they have applied for a €30million investment from now to 2008 specifically to improve the Blanchardstown services and QBC. They plan to put 28 more buses (+37%) on the route, allowing buses to operate every 60 seconds on the trunk section. They hope to increase bus speeds to 18kph and estimate that customers could save up to 35 minutes on a QBC journey with these improvements. They hope to carry 2.3 million more customers (+24%) after the improvements are completed.

Deputy Burton said, “Bus journey times for residents in Dublin 15 have become completely unacceptable. Dublin Bus acknowledged at the meeting that journey times from Blanchardstown to the city centre continue to increase despite the apparent availability of Quality Bus Corridors and have now become the longest journey times in the country”

“I welcome the announcement of a €30million investment programme for the Blanchardstown QBC and I urge the County Councils, the Transport Authority and Dublin Bus to co-operate fully in order to allow the desired improvements to be made. Difficult decisions must be made urgently to find a way around the existing pinch points on the route. In a wealthy country it is unacceptable that Dublin residents are forced to suffer a daily trip of up to 4 hours just to get to their place of work”.

Deputy Joan Burton has welcomed the decision by Fingal County Council to allocate site work costs and costs for the construction of the residential units of a dedicated refuge for women and children experiencing family violence in the Dublin 15 area.

This project is planned for a designated site beside the Garda Station and the Tractamotors in Blanchardstown. The project has received strong support from the Northern Area of the Health Service and from the HSE, however bureaucratic infighting has delayed the development of this important community facility.

“This is a significant breakthrough for the Blanchardstown Women’s Refuge” said Deputy Burton. “We are all aware of the problem of violence against women and children in Ireland today and these people need dedicated services and places of safety to go to in times of crisis. With its fast growing population, the Dublin 15 area needs this refuge so that families affected, particularly children, can stay locally and can stay in school. Hopefully the refuge will provide a space of safety for women and children while they sort out domestic problems and the real risk to life that domestic violence unfortunately very often constitutes in Ireland.”

Approximately two thirds of the cost of this project have now been secured, with a further €850,000 required before the project can proceed. Discussions are progressing in this regard with the Fingal Community Section and with the HSE.

“As the Chair of the Steering Committee for the Refuge I have, along with other local representatives lobbied for this project over the past six years. I recently received a reply from Mary Harney which indicated that the HSE is willing to give generous support to the project” said Deputy Burton. “What is required here is a small amount of funding to launch a project that will have a major impact on some of the most vulnerable members of our community and I will continue to work to ensure that there are no further unnecessary delays to the continuation of this project.”