Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for raising this important topic. From the outset, I must clarify that while, as Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding for public transport, neither I nor my officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services.

The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority. The NTA works with the public transport operators, which deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. That said, I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options. Public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2024 the Department of Transport secured €613.463 million of funding for public transport services and TFI Local Link services. This includes funding for the continuation of the 20% fare reduction on PSO services, the young adult card on both PSO and commercial bus services, and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2024. Funding has also been secured to support new and enhanced bus and rail services this year.

As the Deputy will be aware, while the majority of public transport in Ireland is provided by the publicly subvented bus and rail services funded through the NTA’s PSO programme, the public transport system also includes non-subvented bus services provided on a commercial basis by bus and coach businesses of varying size.

These commercial bus and coach operators are an integral part of the overall public transport system in Ireland and play a pivotal role particularly in areas around the country that are not covered by existing public bus and rail services.

One such commercial service is the 100X route from Dundalk to Merrion Square, which is operated by Bus Éireann’s Expressway business. As I am sure the Deputy will appreciate, Bus Éireann Expressway, is a fully commercial entity, which does not form part of the PSO network, and like all other commercial businesses, is responsible for managing its own resources in respect of its commercial services.

I have been advised that to date in 2024, 99.8% of Route 100X Expressway services have operated fully. However, I understand that between 17 May and 20 May, of 152 scheduled services, 97% or 146 of these services operated to schedule. I understand that a notification of the six service cancellations over this period was placed on the Bus Éireann website and that passengers with pre-booked tickets also received a direct communication from Expressway via email. I have been further advised that Bus Éireann has been experiencing a higher than usual number of vehicle breakdowns in its fleet recently and it is unfortunately having an impact on its ability to operate services to schedule, including on the 100X route.

Like other operators in the industry, Bus Éireann is facing significant challenges in the recruitment of both drivers and mechanics. The fleet is primarily maintained by Bus Éireann’s own maintenance department, which unfortunately has been impacted due to the ongoing shortfall of mechanics. Bus Éireann’s current headcount for craftworkers and mechanics stands at 154, which represents a shortage of 12 nationally and five at the Dublin Broadstone garage.

I understand that Bus Éireann is exploring all viable options to ensure improved service delivery across the Expressway network and that the company is making every effort to fill these key positions as quickly as possible. The company continually runs comprehensive mechanic recruitment campaigns, attends numerous jobs expos and partners with various groups such as education and training boards and business in the community to attract new recruits. It is hoped that these efforts will result in an increase in mechanic numbers at the company shortly.

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