Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Bus Éireann now runs its Cork-Dublin services along the motorway. The towns that lost out between Portlaoise and Cashel are now served by private operators who are paid €440,000 a year for that work. Bus Éireann services from Dublin to Galway and Dublin to Waterford do not travel only on the motorway. If they travelled exclusively on it, it would cost the State between €2 million and €2.5 million every year to have the towns that would lose out serviced by private operators. Is the Minister prepared to recognise fully the social value of the work done by Bus Éireann and support payment in full for services performed by Bus Éireann in towns such as these?

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