Dáil debates

Wednesday, 5 October 2022

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Bus Services

9:42 am

Photo of Jennifer WhitmoreJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State very much for being here. I know this is not her area and I appreciate her taking the time to be here. I raise the absolute shambles of a public transport service in north Wicklow and particularly the services provided by Go-Ahead Ireland. This has been an issue for a number of years now.

I am speaking here about route 184 to Newtownmountkennedy, route 185 to Enniskerry and route 44A to Bray. People are inundating my office with messages about the poor service that is being provided by Go-Ahead Ireland. There are more no-shows than shows. We have situations where people are at bus stops and half-full buses are driving past them and not picking them up. I have constituents who have missed work because of it. I have constituents whose children have missed school and, therefore, they have missed work because they have had to take their children to school. I have constituents whose young daughters who take the bus have been left stranded at night, because the bus does not show up at 11 o'clock, or whatever time it is that they are going home. It is completely unacceptable.

The National Transport Authority, NTA, has fined Go-Ahead Ireland for not meeting its contractual obligations. My understanding is that it has been fined every year since 2019. It is clear at this stage that Go-Ahead Ireland is incapable of providing that service to people. While the NTA is fining people, the fines have not improved the service. Therefore, Go-Ahead Ireland is obviously just absorbing the fines, but it is not providing a better service. A fine is not going to help someone who waited 18 months to get a hospital appointment only to miss it because they could not get to St. Vincent’s University Hospital. Fines are not the solution to this.

At this stage, people in north Wicklow are completely losing confidence in public transport. The Minister can talk about great visions of a country where we have fantastic public services, where everyone can get out of their car and get onto a bus to commute to Dublin city or get to their school by public transport. However, the Minister and the NTA must get the basics right. If a bus is scheduled and you leave your house, you should expect to be able to get that bus - not for it to be a no-show and not turn up at all. Not only that, but people are not being informed that the bus will not turn up, so it is being cancelled without notice. It is completely unacceptable.

At what stage will the NTA hold Go-Ahead Ireland accountable for this poor service? We have heard excuses about Covid. We have heard excuses about the recruitment of bus drivers, and I know that is an issue, but at some stage Go-Ahead Ireland will have to start providing the service it is paid to provide and has been contracted to provide. At what point in time will the Minister have discussions with the NTA about providing a fast, efficient and, most importantly, reliable service to all the people in north Wicklow who rely on Go-Ahead Ireland to get about their daily business?

I thank the Minister of State. I hope that the reply she reads will be as comprehensive as the one she read on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys.

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