Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I welcome wholeheartedly the reduction in the cost of public transport and I encourage the Government to reduce it even further but there are a number of reasons people will choose public transport. One is cost but another is the ability to be confident it will arrive at all. In many parts of the country at the moment - this is critical - public transport is not arriving. In commuter counties such as Meath, for example, buses are frequently cancelled. There might be nine cancellations daily of the NX bus service from Navan and there could be multiple cancellations of the 109 from Cavan and Navan into Dublin, and that means the next bus that comes is usually full, with 50 or 60 people left at bus stops. With such a lack of consistency, people cannot be sure they will get into work on time, and if they cannot get into work on time on a consistent basis, they will be forced back into the car. People nearly need to leave towns such as Navan two hours in advance of work to be sure of getting into work on time in a car, and that is because there are not enough mechanics or bus drivers in the system.

People's minds are exploding because they are standing at bus stops every day to find buses being cancelled and they arriving at work later every day.

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