Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has been advocating on this issue for some time. The F spine routes have only been in place only since October, and there have been issues with them. The NTA is monitoring them. BusConnects is and should be a positive development but we have seen very specific issues with some of the new routes that have been rolled out. I absolutely assure the Deputy that I will work directly with him on this on behalf of his constituents. I have already highlighted the issues, particularly on the 23 and 24 routes, to the NTA.

There have been issues with some resources within the bus operators. Leaving that aside, BusConnects is a positive development and an investment in our public transport. The Ballymun-Finglas quality bus corridor is approved and going to construction. It is the second one and will make a big difference in terms of giving priority to buses and also on the active travel side. There are issues with congestion. I am convening a meeting with stakeholders on 18 March to discuss, in particular, congestion in the city core but not just there. We will look at interim and short-term measures that can be taken to improve bus journeys in particular.

More and more people are using public transport and it is great to see. There were 363.5 million passenger journeys in 2025, which was the highest number ever. Bus Átha Cliath carried the greatest number of passengers among all our operators. People are responding but I fully acknowledge the frustration with the roll-out of some of the new routes in terms of how they operate in practice versus what was said in principle. I am actively looking at that. The NTA is assessing it right now and will engage with the operators. Lessons have been learnt. I want very clear avenues set down for how we can improve performance in that area. Financial penalties applying is no consolation to people. We need a reliable service. I will remain fully engaged with the Deputy on those two particular routes on the F spine.

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