Dáil debates
Tuesday, 13 February 2018
Topical Issue Debate
Bus Éireann Services
6:15 pm
Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Minister is here to take this Topical Issue matter personally and I thank him for being here. I am raising issues with the 220, 220x and the 223 services on behalf of constituents. The 220 is the service from Carrigaline through Cork city and on to Ovens. The 220x is the same service with the addition of a service to Crosshaven. The 223 is the Ringaskiddy to Cork city service and some of those buses go on to CIT. The reason I am raising the issue is that I and others have been inundated with complaints about the quality of the bus service. In particular, we have received complaints about the reliability of the service and ongoing capacity issues as well. It appears that these routes are seriously under-resourced. They are popular, successful and profitable routes and there are people who want to use public transport. The types of issues that occur consistently unfortunately relate to buses running very late, buses being full or in some cases buses not turning up at all. We are talking about people who rely on a bus service to go to college, school, work, a hospital appointment or to go about their day-to-day lives. It is just not good enough. I have tried to take this issue through the regular channels. I have raised these concerns with Bus Éireann directly. It talks about traffic congestion, the need for greater investment in bus lanes and it says it is looking at increasing capacity on these routes. I do not see any improvements happening at the moment and that is why I feel the need to raise these issues here today.
The problems are both inbound and outbound and both the 220 and 223 serve communities that are rapidly expanding. Towns like Carrigaline and Passage West are expanding very rapidly and they need a quality bus service. I am not blaming the bus drivers, some of whom have provided really useful feedback on the nature of the timetable. It may well be that the timetable needs to change to reflect the reality of traffic congestion which is not getting lighter. It is not just in Dublin that there is traffic congestion; it is certainly in Cork as well. More resources are undoubtedly needed. There is no real-time information available. If one is at a bus stop in Dublin or waiting for the Luas, the sign will say when the next Luas or bus will be along, for example, in two minutes or three minutes. We do not have that service on these routes. People stand there not knowing whether or not the bus will turn up. That is the reality of the service that people are facing.
I welcome the extension of the city zone fares which both of these routes avail of. The 220 and 223 are now deemed to be within the city zone. That is a very beneficial reduction in fares, which is to be welcomed. The message from people is that it is all very good and they welcome it but it is not much good if we do not have a service we can rely on.
There is also a need to change routes and introduce new routes. The town of Carrigaline should be connected with Passage West because there is a new primary care centre in Carrigaline, which the people of Passage West need to get to. About 5,000 people work in the lower harbour area of Ringaskiddy and many of them live in Carrigaline. There is no bus connection for them to get to work or to Little Island.
There are a lot of issues. In some cases overtime is not available and is not being paid, which may explain why in some cases, buses have an out-of-service sign and are rushing back to the depot. In other cases, private buses are being brought in, which means people cannot use the Leap card and so there is a loss of revenue to Bus Éireann. The Minister is in charge. People are looking for answers and I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say.
Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this interesting issue. I am not one who thinks it is a bad idea to bring up certain bus routes in Cork or anywhere in Ireland in the Dáil. I do not think any problem is too small for us to address because it may be a microcosm of what is happening elsewhere. I am grateful to Deputy McGrath for bringing it up, although I may indeed wash my hands of some of the responsibility for it because of the structures the State has for dealing with these situations. If this is a reflection of what is happening elsewhere, it is a good thing the Deputy brought it up today. I hope I will give the Deputy a reasonably positive response. I appreciate the fact the Deputy has raised the issue.
As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport. I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. Deputies will understand that the operation of Bus Éireann services is a matter for the company with oversight by the National Transport Authority, NTA. The NTA has entered into a contract with Bus Éireann for the provision of bus services in the State. In accordance with the terms of that contract, the day-to-day operation of those services is managed by Bus Éireann. The company is required to meet performance obligations on service delivery such as punctuality, services operated, vehicles in service and customer information. The NTA has invested in a significant improvement to subsidised bus services in Cork city. This has included the provision of cross-city services, increased frequency on existing services and new services linking residential areas to places of employment and education. Further investment has been made in the city bus fleet which is 100% fully accessible and an increase in capacity through the purchase and deployment of double decker buses. Passenger numbers have grown by 19.4% since 2013 to 12.6 million in 2017. However, the 2017 numbers were lower than forecast due to the period of industrial action at Bus Éireann. Further expansion of the Cork city network is planned in 2018. For example, there are improved services planned on the Ballincollig-Carrigaline corridor, including routes 216, 220, 220x and 223 and frequency improvements on routes 202, 207a, and 208. In addition, route 206 is planned to link with route 221 providing improved frequency to Glanmire via Cork Kent Station with the service also being extended to Cork Airport.
I am aware Bus Éireann has been experiencing some operational issues in the Cork area recently and that there have been some complaints regarding the non-arrival and late arrival of some services. This apparent degradation of services for the customer is not acceptable and it is a matter for the company to resolve the issues promptly. I take note of what the Deputy has said and presume the company will do the same.
I am advised the NTA is currently liaising with Bus Éireann regarding a number of complaints from Bus Éireann customers regarding problems with services in Cork that it has received recently and no doubt some of them are from Deputy McGrath. I understand the NTA wrote to Bus Éireann last week asking that the company revert to the authority as a matter of urgency with the steps being taken by it to resolve the underlying issues and mitigate the effects of them in the short term until permanent solutions are put in place. I assure the Deputy the NTA is continuing to monitor developments closely and has reminded Bus Éireann of its performance obligations under its contract. I look forward to this issue being resolved as soon as possible.
6:25 pm
Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. People locally hold me accountable politically and I have to hold the Minister accountable politically as the one in charge of this issue. I ask him not to wash his hands of any aspect of it and make sure the fact that it has had to be raised on the floor of Dáil Éireann will work its way through the system and result in a better quality of service for the people I represent. He can be sure these issues are not unique to the area I represent, but it is a matter for other Deputies to raise them on behalf of their constituents. I would like the Minister to follow up on these problems with the NTA and Bus Éireann. It is welcome that there are plans to expand services, including the 220, 220X and 223, but will the resources be provided to back up the intention to expand these services because lack of capacity is a problem? Lack of resources is, undoubtedly, a problem.
People want to know whether the position is going to change. I invite the Minister to read the community noticeboards on Facebook. Local newspapers such as The Carrigdhounalso provide a Facebook platform. They have been inundated with complaints and people are utterly frustrated about buses running so late and, in some cases, not even turning up and being full that it is having a detrimental impact on their daily lives. The fact that I have had to raise the issue in the House is born out of frustration and I am demanding action. I respect the fact that the Minister takes the matter seriously and it is welcome that the NTA has engaged with Bus Éireann and is aware of the operational problems which I agree are not acceptable. If the NTA measures the performance obligations, service delivery, punctuality, services and so on, it will find, unfortunately, that on these routes the quality of service has not been up to standard. Will the Minister follow through on this issue and please engage with the NTA in order that it will engage with Bus Éireann and put pressure on in in order that these services can be improved? There are people who want to avail of public transport which the Minister wants to encourage, but let us make it possible for them to do so by being able to rely on the provision of a decent service.
Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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What the Deputy raises is fair and I have no doubt that what he says is true. The NTA acknowledges there has been an increase in the number of complaints about Bus Éireann services in Cork, particularly since implementation of what it calls the optimisation scheme in early December 2017. It continues to implement measures to further improve service levels and in recent days there have only been a few cancellations. I will not wash my hands of this issue. It is useful to hear the complaints on the floor of the House, particularly if there is an avalanche coming the Deputy's way. Whereas the NTA has operational responsibility for everything that happens, the buck stops here and it is good that the Minister is made aware of such problems which, if they were to recur throughout the country, would become far more serious. I acknowledge what is happening in Cork. I will be in touch with the NTA on the Deputy's behalf and thank him for raising the subject.