Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Considerable changes are being planned for the network. Specifically, for BusConnects Cork, it is planned to move the terminus at Grange Manor and to put two bus routes into that general area with very different services. While there are other issues on down the network that need addressing, I want particularly to focus on the residents of Ovens and Grange Manor and the new homes that are being built there. They currently have a 24-hour service with four buses per hour through the day, with reduced frequency at night and a direct link into the city. Under the new proposed plan, that service would be halved to two buses per hour with no direct link, as they would have to switch buses, and the 24-hour service would not be available to them. This is because the terminus is being moved from the western side of EMC, beside the Grange Manor entrance, over to the eastern side of EMC, serving the needs of a private company.

The county development plan sets out that there will be considerable development in the Grange area. Homes are being built and residents moving in there. Surely we would be looking to give the maximum service to the residents in the area. They have shown that they are interested in using the service. They have been using it over many years. There is a way of solving this where the bus route comes through EMC and out to the existing terminus at the western end of the company's property. Is this the only place on the network where the terminus is being changed or taken away? It must be. There are considerable changes within the network in Cork but right here, on the very edge of it, a service is being taken away. Locals are reasonably asking how this is going to encourage them to move away from their cars. It is just sending the wrong message. There is time before this is due to be implemented in 2025 or 2026. I ask that the opportunity be used to engage with the locals on the issue.

See this speech in context