Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Our public transport in Dublin West is under serious pressure. Punctuality figures for the 37 bus route over winter and spring last year stood at approximately 60%. I often wonder what employer is okay with staff being punctual just 60% of the time. The National Transport Authority, NTA, admits that we are badly affected by ghost buses. The BusConnects roll-out is now delayed until late 2026 because of a lack of mechanics and drivers and issues around the electrification of bus depots, which I believe warrants more scrutiny. We have active judicial reviews on both our major public transport projects, namely, the BusConnects core bus corridor and the electrification of our rail line through DART+ West. In the meantime, the NTA has stated its priority is to fix capacity issues rather than enhance them because it had a limited budget for new or additional services in 2024. In effect, the NTA wants to run to stand still in an area that never stands still. We have also lost out on additional train carriages which were earmarked for the Maynooth line but, post Covid, were moved to intercity services.

I am not sure whether the previous Minister signed off on this decision or whether it was the NTA alone. My question is whether the work of the new Cabinet committee will hold the NTA to account for delays and its decisions, and ensure sufficient investment, not only in capital projects but also in capacity in the here and now.

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