A public transport users' group with statutory powers is needed "as a matter of urgency" to address commuter concerns over transport management, the chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Mr Eoin Ryan, has said.
Referring to the current Luas and DART works, the Fianna Fáil Dublin South East TD said the need for such a body - similar to that which existed in "most countries" - was "obvious".
"Many of the problems we are experiencing now may have been avoided if providers had to discuss and explain their proposals in advance to such a users' body," he added.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said the establishment of a users' group was "being actively considered" by the Minister, although the proposal was "in the early stages at the moment".
Mr Thomas Sheridan, chairman of the rail users' lobby group Platform II, said it was "100 per cent behind" such a statutory body "because the last people to be told about any disruption to services are the users themselves". He added the group should be established alongside a new "railway tsar" who would coordinate services in the area.
Meanwhile yesterday, Dublin City Council revealed it was considering opening up its civic office car park at Wood Quay to the public over Christmas to ease parking strains.
The local authority is also examining whether a number of other public spaces not normally used for parking, including council depots, could be converted for use as car parks over Christmas.
A spokesman for the council said a decision on the civic office car park would be made early next week.
The Dublin Chamber of the Commerce and the Old City Traders Group, which represents several Temple Bar businesses, have called for public service car parks including Wood Quay to be opened up to facilitate commuters who will be affected by the nine-day shutdown of southside DART services after Christmas.
The Dublin City Business Association yesterday joined the city manager, Mr John Fitzgerald, in criticising the chamber for comments it had made this week about a "potential catastrophe" in the capital due to traffic and transport disruption.
The association said it rejected the chamber's suggestion that Dublin was "in crisis".
