Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I thank Ms Graham. I wish to raise a couple of route issues with the NTA, Dublin Bus and perhaps Bus Éireann. A couple of issues have been raised about the existing 41C service to Swords. On 25 and 26 November, it appeared on the app on time but then it suddenly disappeared. This has not happened a lot on the 41C up until this year. It does not seem to be affecting the other 41Cs. Those dates are the most recent examples and near to the start of the service as well, on the northern end, not at the River Valley end where there can sometimes be a delay coming through Swords. I ask that it could be examined.

In terms of services that need improvement, I ask the NTA to look at the 33D service. The bus is full in the morning before it even reaches Donabate village. There probably needs to be a second service there. The train service is at capacity in the north county and we need the bus services, which are doing an awful lot of the heavy lifting in terms of transport for the area. The 33D probably needs another service. Could Dublin Bus examine how the 33D service matches up in the evening with the trains arriving in Donabate? The NTA, Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead have been very flexible in the past in ensuring that the services between the bus and train match up and a bit of work needs to be done on the 33D.

There used to be two 32X routes and then during Covid there was one in the morning and one in the evening. That is a route that is well used by Malahide and Portmarnock people and it goes all the way to UCD. It would be very welcome if a return of the second 32X could be examined.

We have a strange situation whereby due to the flow of buses, people in Portmarnock find that getting the bus to Malahide train station is easier than getting the bus to Portmarnock train station. That is an issue that needs to be looked at. If we had a second 32X service that would take it out of the equation for a lot of people.

My question for Bus Éireann relates to the 101 service. It arrives full at Balrothery at peak times in the morning. We have raised the issue previously. It would be most welcome if it could continue to be looked at.

I will move on to some more general policy issues.

On the roll-out of Bus Connects, what is the policy of the NTA when major news organisations report factually incorrect details about the network, such as saying to people who have disabilities that they will have to take three buses or it will take an extra hour and a half when that is plainly not true? That may also be across multiple sources. Is there a strategy for tackling that misinformation when it comes to Bus Connects?