Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me to attend this meeting. My questions are not, unfortunately, about Dublin. I want to speak about the issues facing bus services in Limerick city, in particular the 304 and 304A which serve the Dooradoyle-Raheen to Castletroy areas, which are two largely populated areas. Each morning, including at off-peak times, these buses arrive between 15 and 23 minutes late. There is a similar time issue in the evenings. There are many people working or living in the city centre who have to travel to the other side of the city for work or other reasons. The real time app does not co-ordinate with the arrival time of the buses. I have been told by people who use these services on a daily basis that when they check the app it states a bus will arrive in two or three minutes but it might not arrive for half an hour. There is a time lapse between the information provided in the app and the arrival of buses.

In regard to the leap card, there are only a few locations at which people can top them up, such that unless one is from Limerick one would not know the places to go. There is no information for tourists or people visiting the city from other cities around Ireland on where they can top-up their leap cards. I was speaking to a man recently who told me the journey from the city centre, where he lives, to Troy Studios, Castletroy, where he works, took more than 40 minutes, yet a private bus operator on the route appears to be able to complete the journey in less time. Another issue is the lack of policing of cars parked at bus stops, which I accept may be an issue for the council rather than the NTA. Also, on Sundays and bank holidays services are not as frequent as advertised. This service is not reliable. Listening to the discussion today on BusConnects and the consultation around it, I am jealous.