My dog Luca is a little bit unpredictable, and so I am not sure whether bringing him on a bus or train would be a good idea, but there are many people who have pets with less anxiety who might benefit from being able to bring them places by public transport, instead of another car journey.

Tranport for Ireland have opened a consultation on allowing pets on public transport. You can find the public consultation here https://www.transportforireland.ie/news/nta-opens-public-consultation-on-policy-for-pets-on-public-transport/. The consultation will be open until 20th March, and so, if you are someone who might consider bringing their dog somewhere that is not close to your home for a walk, maybe you should consider having your say. I am going to send this piece in as my submission.

I would be in favour of allowing people to bring their pets on public transport in Ireland, but that they would have to responsible for their behaviour, in a reasonable way,

It might be necessary to advise the public, given that people may be in close proximity to other people’s pets, to be advised that they are animals and to respect any advice the owners of the pets give. Many members of the public don’t seem to know how to behave around animals, and this can be a problem, both for the animal and for others.

Countries like Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark and many others allow full access to domestic animals to public transportation provided they are always kept on a leash and well behaved. In Ireland, if you want to bring your pet to the park for a walk, and the park isn’t within walking distance, you have to drive.

In Dublin, the LUAS have what they call a “pet friendly” policy since they accept dogs provided they are held in an appropriate carrier which, to be fair, makes it almost impossible if you have a medium sized dog as the carrier would not be able to be transported by any human in a practical way to access trams. Irish rail have a similar policy, although you will sometimes meet well behaved dogs on long-distance trains.

This presents an impediment for any dog owner that would like to hop on a train and enjoy tourism within the island since no rental company allows pets on their cars and pets are not welcomed on board Dublin Bus services. A pet-friendly LUAS service would allow these owners to transfer at Connolly Station or Heuston Station since they are both serviced by the LUAS.

Since the FSAI has repealed the ban on domestic animals accessing food premises “at the food business operator’s discretion” on 2017 and the LUAS willing to allow access to animals after being inquired but limited due to bye-laws as they themselves state: “As per the LUAS bye- laws due to safety reasons, unless the dog is a service dog they must be in an appropriate carrier”, If. domestic animals ever present a safety risk, it would be far greater to food premises, however the FSAI has lifted this ban and we believe should do the NTA in regards with their policing of the contract assigned to LUAS and bus operators.

There will be a “Dog Friendly Ireland Day” in late June. This could be a great day to “test ” this measure allowing people to access to the LUAS and bus services during this day with their furry friends, showcasing the benefits of being pet- friendly. The

If the measure is permanent, it might be possible to designate one small section of the LUAS trams to this end, so any other user of the services wanting to avoid being close to animals can do so at their convenience

If needs be, transport operators could charge a small fee for dog access to the service as a “pet ticket” which would allow the operator to enforce any misbehavior by any furry friend.

Allowing pets on public transport might help people take cars of the roads. Daily a number of people will be found driving to the Phoenix park and other places with their pets. There would be benefits to traffic in reducing the number of people doing this, freeing up spaces for others to park in the park. It would also help justify public transport services like the 99 bus in the park.