Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The Dublin city centre task force recommends improving public transport by implementing the city centre transport plan. How on earth does the Taoiseach think this is compatible with outsourcing more and more routes to private companies like Go-Ahead Ireland, which has been a disaster for commuters? Workers and students in Tallaght, Knocklyon and Rathfarnham have had their lives turned upside down by the number of no-show buses and ghost buses run by Go-Ahead Ireland. The S6, S8 and S4, all of which are run by Go-Ahead Ireland, are totally unreliable. I have talked to countless people over the past couple of weeks who said they have had to get taxis multiple times to work and can no longer take public transport to work because they do not know whether it will arrive on time. They are waiting on a bus and it does not show for a couple of hours because various buses simply do not appear. Yet Go-Ahead Ireland has been rewarded by winning another contract - the so-called ODMA, which is a series of different routes worth €50 million. The bottom line issue is that Go-Ahead Ireland cannot recruit the mechanics to fix the buses because it makes profits by paying the mechanics less than Dublin Bus pays them. Privatisation is a disaster for workers, commuters and our environment. Will the Taoiseach instruct the NTA to return the bus routes to Dublin Bus?

See this speech in context