Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

A lady contacted me today. She finished work in Cork University Hospital last Friday evening and was waiting in town for the 203 bus. She stood there for an hour before the bus turned up. Two buses were on the app. They never turned up. By the time the bus turned up, over 100 people were waiting to get on at the bus stop. She said trying to get on the bus was like a stampede. Imagine what it is like after working a long day in a hospital and having to struggle to get a bus home. She also said that she walks 5 km every morning to work because she cannot depend on the bus because the service is so bad in Cork. Why does she walk 5 km? It is because she knows that if she walks, she will get there on time.

Another person contacted me who uses the bus to commute. They have put in seven complaints in the past ten days and got two generic responses. To let the Minister of State how bad things are, I put a post on Facebook a couple of hours ago and asked people to let me know their stories. I cannot keep up with the number of stories that have come in. A total of 161 people responded to me in a couple of hours outlining their problems. They cannot get to work, school, college or hospital appointments. They are telling that it affects the 202, 203, 205, 206, 207, 208, 212, 214, 215 and 220 routes. That is just from people texting me or sending me messages. I have messages on Facebook and WhatsApp and emails about it. We are not talking about a couple of minutes. We are talking about people waiting for an hour or longer in the rain and the cold this winter. How is that acceptable? We are talking about providing public transport and at the same time, Bus Éireann is letting the people of Cork down once again.

It was the exact same last year. People were waiting hours for buses. Some people might have a family member who can collect them while others might have the price of a taxi but many people do not. We were promised that more drivers would be hired and that there would be an end to delays and ghost buses.

One person who contacted me told of how they were standing at a bus stop and an empty bus passed them. The bus was empty. It was because that bus driver was told to get back to base or ahead because the NTA fines Bus Éireann every time it is late so instead of picking up passengers who are waiting in the cold and the rain, Bus Éireann management told drivers to drive on and pass them. The drivers are telling us they do not want to do that. They want to pick people up. They are also being told to roll up "out of service" and drive past people. Another person contacted me today. They saw a bus coming down the road after waiting for an hour that diverted down another road to get it back early. That is what is happening. Bus Éireann is completely ignoring the people of Cork. Fining Bus Éireann for being late or skipping a stop means that people are being left behind.

What action will be taken to ensure that the people of Cork are not left stranded by the side of the road? I was talking to my daughter. Her friend was waiting on a bus last weekend. The bus was to be there in seven minutes. The bus did not arrive for over 40 minutes. If I get off the bus at Heuston Station and look up at the bus panel and it says the bus will be there in five minutes, it will be there in five minutes. How can it be done in Dublin when it cannot be done in Cork? Why are the people of Cork looking at the app and the buses never turn up?

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