Sinn Féin TD John Brady has today welcomed his appointment to the Transport and Communications portfolio, as part of a reshuffle of a number of Dáil frontbench positions made by Sinn Féin party president Mary Lou McDonald. 
 
Speaking today, Teachta Brady said:
 
“I am delighted to be taking over the role of Sinn Féin spokesperson for Transport and Communications. It is an area where I have been heavily involved even back before I was elected as a TD, campaigning for better public transport services, and road improvements in my native county of Wicklow.
 
“I want to thank my colleague Teachta Martin Kenny for the hard work he carried out in the role, and I look forward to building upon the work that Martin has carried out to date.
 
“Road safety, the failure of the government to provide secure and safe public transport and its ongoing refusal to engage on the issue of the establishment of a dedicated transport policing unit, are some of the areas that I will be focusing on.
 
“I also want to ensure that we have a wide-reaching and reliable road and rail public transport system, that can cope with current demands, and prove attractive enough to bring more commuters out of their cars and onto public transport.
 
“There are currently huge challenges for workers in the commuter belt counties, who are forced to deal with ever increasing road congestion, coupled with a lack of public transport in their areas.
 
“Our transport infrastructure is essential to our economy, without which rural economies cannot develop.

“The government and the Minister need to be held to account for their failures, of poor spatial planning, lack of adequate public transport, and its increasing failure to invest in upgrading and developing our road network.”