Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is clearly a testament to how important the issues are that so many members of the committee and other Members of the Houses are here.

Councillor Damien O'Reilly from Ratoath points out that the Go-Ahead 270 bus service from Dunboyne to Blanchardstown fails every day. The service has been disastrous since Go-Ahead took it from Dublin Bus. Buses do not show up every day and the company has been giving the same standard reply for two years, namely, that staff have Covid. That is a problem for people using that service. Does Dublin Bus intend to bring back the 747 and 757 bus service, which was brilliant because people could get the bus from the city and save money on taxi fares?

Someone else mentioned that the 40E bus service, a relatively infrequent new route from the Luas Broombridge stop out to Tyrrelstown, fails regularly. On 17 October, three buses in a row disappeared from the system, which meant that after the 4 p.m. service left Broombridge, the next one did not leave until after 6 p.m.

I do not expect responses to all of these issues now but I want answers in writing after the meeting.

I was contacted by someone from the midlands who has a hidden disability and travels to Dublin two or three days a week. This person stated that the 145 bus turns up at Heuston Station, waits for five or ten minutes and then an "Out of Service" sign appears and the bus disappears. This person thinks the bus will leave and finds this very difficult. They have switched to the Luas which they find much better.

Ógra Fianna Fáil in Dublin City University is looking for a 24-hour bus service to DCU. I live on the No. 11 bus route so I would be more than happy if that became a 24-hour service. When will we get 24-hour bus services, particularly for university campuses?

The NTA has a responsibility for taxis. When more people are willing to use late-night buses, there is less pressure on the taxi system. While I appreciate there are recruitment and scheduling issues in that regard, a modern city of the size of Dublin deserves to have a 24-hour bus service on lots of routes.

The implementation of BusConnects is also an issue. Someone pointed out to me that they previously used the 79-79A service, which was a good route, but it was discontinued. All the buses that were using the bus lane on Con Colbert Road are now being forced through an area that is not yet served by BusConnects.

They are using a BusConnects spine through a route that has not been prioritised, so a journey that was 15 minutes is now 45 minutes. There is an awful lot of frustration and that is before I come to the submission from the transport coalition. Clearly, we are all interested in climate change. We are all trying to get people to use less fossil fuels. The Irish Timeshad a big feature last weekend, which I am sure the witnesses saw, about missing buses and ghost buses. There is a reference to Dublin Bus in particular, and I am conscious I want to give the time to respond. They are saying that a lot of drivers are leaving but we have been told a very small number of drivers are leaving. Can we get the percentage of people leaving before retirement, and how short-staffed is the company in terms of the workforce? How many drivers are needed to reach the required level for the current services? How many more are needed to do what BusConnects wants, which is a 23% increase in the level of services provided? When are we going to get credit and debit cards? What is the story with cash in the longer term? I know staff members working in relatively low-paid jobs and have to be in hotels for 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. and are working past midnight. There is a huge challenge for those people, as in the example Deputy Matthews provided from Enniskerry. They are spending their wages getting to and from work because buses are not there for them. I am not sure who wants to take what, but I think probably the NTA should answer first, in terms of where we are overall with the service. There are lots of people with a lot of concerns. I appreciate that a lot of services are being delivered every day, and it is done well, but a lot of people are being let down on a daily basis. That is not acceptable.