Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their engagement. I have previously raised an issue with some bus services in Meath, which I will again put on record. There is a regular call in Ratoath for a more regular direct service into the city - the 105X is the example – and for a direct service via the M3 parkway for people who might want to use the train. I will continue to make the case for those.

In respect of the 103 route, a number of people have been affected by the decision of Bus Éireann to terminate not on the south side of the city in Townsend Street, although it used to go all the way to St. Stephen’s Green, but rather in O'Connell Street. Why did that happen? We hear from Bus Éireann that it was a time-saving measure but I think that needs to be reviewed because a number of people have been affected, especially students and workers.

More broadly, on bus services in Meath, a number of high-frequency public bus services are very well used and people who rely on the services tend to be frustrated with them because they organise their lives around them and are impacted by the issues we have.

That particularly includes the shortage of mechanics at Broadstone. Hopefully that is resolved soon and we can get back to full capacity, because Bus Éireann has outsourced some of its services, so we end up with coaches where double deckers are needed and that has an impact. Eventually, my question on the matter of ensuring punctuality is this. These services are largely on the N2 or old N2 route or the M3 or old N3 route. Are there quality bus corridors? Are they part of BusConnects? You can get caught at Phibsborough or the Halfway House on the N3. Will they be resolved? What is the timeline for those? Are they factored into the Dublin BusConnects programme?