Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me in. I am not a member of this committee so I appreciate that. I am a TD in Kildare North so part of my consitituency would be within Dublin Bus. We also have private services and Bus Éireann. There will always be a certain number of complaints around lateness, buses not showing up, buses being too full - particularly the Bus Éireann buses - and buses driving past or disappearing. There is one route in particular. The 120 route and the 126 route are in the southern end of my constituency servicing Naas, Prosperous, Clane and Celbridge. The 115 route which goes to Kilcock is particularly awful. If I were to add up a list of all the complaints I get around public transport the 115 route would be out in front. It used to be a single decker bus and through a lot of local people agitating they managed to get a double decker bus. Last week there was an incident on the M4 motorway going out just past Lucan as it becomes the dual carriageway into a motorway. We do not what caused it. People on the bus who were constituents and who contacted me thought there might have been a blowout. They are not sure. The bus veered across the road into the middle of the dual carriageway. Passengers were left waiting for two hours for a replacement bus. They were told the replacement bus would come. The driver of the vehicle was a youngster and he was very good. I have written to Mr. Rory Leahy in Bus Éireann on this issue and have not had a reply yet. The driver managed to keep the bus from going on to the other side of the road which was marvellous because that could have been catastrophic. There seemed to be no health and safety organisation. The Garda never came out. The passengers could not get the front door open. It was like something one would see in a film. This was during busy rush hour traffic at 5.30 p.m. on a Tuesday evening and passengers had to disembark from the bus and cross the motorway. The Garda was not called. There were no proper safety instructions. Have the Bus Éireann representatives heard about this incident? Do they have a report on it? Why was there no bus available to come out and pick up those passengers? I know the residents of Kilcock have been agitated and have activated themselves greatly in order to get extra bus services put on for the 115 route. Surely to God there is a spare bus that could have been sent out to pick up passengers so they would not be left for two hours when something like that happens? Thank God it was not raining but it was a cool enough evening for people to be standing on the side of a motorway.