Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When I raised the issue before, my supplementary question related to the recruitment of mechanics for bus services. That is something that definitely needs to be addressed. I understand that Expressway is a commercial operation but if we are talking about trying to get people out of cars and making sure we are not putting undue pressure on car park services in the airport, we need to make sure that Bus Éireann, which at least has an interaction with the Minister, has a sustainable service.

A big part of this is ensuring it has vehicles that are fit for purpose. There seems to be an issue. The Minister himself referred to breakdowns, so I imagine there is a need to review the condition of Bus Éireann's vehicle stock. What I have been told about the poor state of some of these vehicles is frightening. For the want of a better term, some of them are on their last legs, which means they are going to be in the garage more often, with the obvious issues the Minister spoke about previously. The big issue here is that this service is used by a lot of people to get to and from the airport and cancellations are causing a huge amount of stress to them. If people cannot rely on the service, they will get back in their cars. We must ensure that does not happen.

The Minister referred to the period between 17 May and 20 May. I am working on the basis that Bus Éireann has made up for the shortfall in its own vehicles by taking on private contractors to fill the space. It is that issue, as well as the question of what conversation the Minister will have with Bus Éireann to make sure we do not end up with what is happening at present.

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