James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is an important question. As the Deputy said, I am very familiar with it, representing Kildare North in my role as a TD. I also know the Deputy’s area. Councillor Caroline O’Reilly has been very vocal on those issues as well - bus services to Ratoath and Ashbourne, the ones the Deputy mentioned - and I met with her on that recently.

The Deputy is right that there are a number of causes for that, such as the increased popularity of the service, which is a good thing that we want to encourage. However, we need make sure they are reliable, available, frequent and affordable. I think the affordable part has been tackled through the PSO interventions, the 20% cuts, the young adult card and so on. The reliability is one we need to get 100% right. If people are getting a bus and the bus is turning up late or not turning up at all, which was the case on some occasions, that is not good enough.

However, in my experience, speaking as a commuter myself, I think there have been significant improvements in the past six to 12 months. Coming out of Covid, there were continual issues. The 120, 124 and 126 buses in my area, in the Deputy’s area and across the commuter belt had begun to lag. The reason for that, as the Deputy mentioned, is there was a shortage of drivers. It was difficult to get people back into the same working day. That was a challenge across many industries post Covid - hospitality, catering and so on. Some people changed roles and lifestyles in the meantime. Mechanics is a particular issue. We really need to support further apprenticeships for the development of careers in the area of mechanics. Not just ordinary mechanics, which are very important for private motor cars, but heavy duty, heavy vehicle mechanics. I have met with Dublin Bus on that. I had a good discussion with Billy Hann on that and I was committed to bringing that through as well. He is creating multiple in terms of mechanics and actively seeking more. I met with Go-Ahead on that, the provider of many services in the Deputy's constituency and in my own, and others around the commuter belt. I have spoken with Stephen Kent of Bus Éireann as well on similar issues. I have been engaging with the transport companies on that. We are seeing improvement in terms of drivers. We need more mechanics still. The call goes out today and every day. If people are interested, I encourage school leavers and people to look at that as an alternative career path and explore it with the companies. They are open and willing to recruit people and take them on. We need to have constant reliability that has, unfortunately, been an issue in the recent past.

The Supplementary Estimate of €29 million goes towards the end of year. The Supplementary Estimate is for now to year end, which is only two months. However, it is important. It is important to maintain a minimum existing level of service but also provide additional supports where needed in areas of the type the Deputy mentioned.

Regarding the mechanic and driver shortages, we got agreement recently to place those trades on the critical skills list, which will help with the recruitment and retention of mechanics. That is now recognised as a critical skill.

Part of the funding is about capacity in the network, such as issues like a bus being full when it pulls up at the stop, which I see in my constituency and I am sure the Deputy sees in his. More double-deckers and more frequency of services would help that. The 139 in my area of Kildare recently got an additional bus added on the fleet on a daily basis. All of those things are key to make sure that when people make the choice, which I recommended every day, to use the bus or train rather than getting in their private car where at all possible, we need to provide the supply and service to meet that expectation. I think we are doing that. We are making huge strides, particularly in this last term of Government. I will not say this €29 million is a panacea. It is not. It is a Supplementary Estimate to year end. It will go towards supporting those provisions and measures into the future. I hope that the next Government, whatever its make-up, will be as ambitious and committed to public transport as the last Government has been.