Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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As Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne is not present, I call Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I regret it is not the Minister for Transport who I am addressing and that it is to be dealt with by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, as I know transport is not part of his departmental brief. In one sense, however, it is very positive because I know he is a regular visitor to Tramore and he knows the lay of the land in the south east as well as anybody in this House.

I want to share with the Minister of State some of the Bus Éireann services that were disrupted in the south east, out of Waterford in particular, on just one day, the Sunday of last week. These details are taken from the Bus Éireann website. On route 2, the 5 p.m. service from Wexford to Dublin Airport was cancelled along with the return service at 9 p.m. On the 4-X4 route, the 9 a.m. service from Waterford to Dublin Airport was cancelled along with the return at 1.15 p.m. The 4.30 p.m. service from New Ross to Dublin was cancelled along with its return service. Five services on route 40 were cancelled along the Cork, Waterford, Wexford and Rosslare route and four of the services along the 360 route between Waterford and Tramore were officially cancelled as well, according to the website, although I am led to believe that another six services in each direction were also cancelled during the course of the day. As the Minister of State may remember, this was on one of the best days of the year so far, when we could expect passenger numbers between Waterford and Tramore to be especially high, and at a time when the buses are running at a limited capacity because of Covid restrictions.

The upshot of these cancellations is that many passengers were left high and dry, either waiting for a bus that was not coming or having been told that the service was at capacity and that they could not get on. Moreover, and this particularly applies to the longer intercity Expressway routes, people just were not informed in time to make alternative plans. People were left feeling angry and let down and they struggled to find an alternative way to travel. I know of one case in particular where the last intercity service was cancelled and the person had to sleep out for the night, having no alternative.

This is not an isolated incident and these cancellations are happening on an ongoing basis. It is leading to a situation where people feel they cannot rely on the public transport service operating out of Waterford.

Will the Minister of State cast any light on the situation? Is the problem exclusive to or particularly pronounced in Waterford? Are there particular issues with staffing in Waterford? An additional city service has been laid on to provide transport to the mass vaccination centre in the Waterford Institute of Technology Arena. Has that route been adequately resourced or is that impacting the provision of other services? How stand the relationships between management and drivers at the Waterford depot? Are there difficulties that the Department can get involved in to help to resolve. The Minister of State knows as well as anybody how hard we fought in programme for Government negotiations so that State spending would go two to one in favour of public transport over road projects. Moving people away from private vehicles to public transport is a key action to decarbonise our transport sector and meet climate targets. For people to make that choice, public transport has to be comfortable, affordable and reliable. That does not seem to be the case in Waterford at the moment. Will the Minister of State outline whether the Department is aware of these issues and what steps it is taking to remedy the problem?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for giving me the opportunity to discuss this. I am familiar with Tramore. We go there for our weekly supplies of Dooly's chips. As Members will be aware, the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding related to public transport. However, the Minister is not involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services as this falls under the remit of the National Transport Authority in conjunction with the relevant public transport operators, which is Bus Éireann in this case. The public transport system in Ireland has played an essential service role over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in carrying essential workers and others making necessary journeys. I am sure the Deputy will agree that public transport operators, including Bus Éireann, have demonstrated great dedication and resilience in dealing with the unique challenges posed by the impact of Covid-19 on the sector. At the height of the pandemic last year, Bus Éireann services continued to operate at a time when many others ceased operations and delivered essential public transport to those who needed it, most notably front-line workers.

As the Deputy will be aware, the easing of some level 5 restrictions in recent months, such as those previously placed on schools, construction, retail etc., has led to a significant increase in demand for some public transport services. While operators are now permitted to carry up to 50% of normal capacity on each service, there are still some capacity constraints on certain services, with increased congestion also causing issues.

With regard to the Deputy's question about bus services in the south east, Bus Éireann has advised that, regrettably, it has experienced operational issues in recent weeks that have impacted on service delivery in the Waterford area. I understand that while the majority of services in Waterford have continued to operate as scheduled, a small number, less than 5% of the scheduled services in Waterford, were impacted and therefore did not operate. Bus Éireann has advised that the issues with these services have largely been due to staff shortages in the region, which was more than the typical need to cover annual leave and vaccinations at this time of year. A further contributing factor has been the significant increase in congestion in Waterford in recent months due to the higher traffic volumes following the relaxation of some Covid-19 restrictions. This gets to the point the Deputy made about public transport and private car travel. Some local traffic diversions have been in place in Waterford city to facilitate local business, which have impacted on city bus routes and schedules.

I understand that the Minister, Deputy Ryan, has been assured by Bus Eireann that it is addressing the issue of driver availability and that it is well advanced in its recruitment process in Waterford, with a number of these new positions due to start this weekend and more to follow. I am pleased to advise that Bus Éireann is due to commence additional summer services for Waterford to Tramore this Sunday. These services will double the frequency between midday and 7 p.m. and provide additional capacity to those travelling to the newly refurbished terminus in Tramore. While I trust this clarifies the position regarding Waterford services, Bus Éireann has advised it is happy to engage directly with the Deputy on the matter.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I do not envy him. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, who spoke before him had an answer that was not an answer, but she was able to elaborate on it because she is a Minister of State at that Department. I am afraid that the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has been handed an answer that is not an answer but it is not his Department. To say that some of the services were cancelled due to increased traffic in June, when schools are finished and the traffic is lighter, is risible, as is saying that local traffic diversions have for some reason cancelled intercity services from Waterford to Dublin Airport. I do not envy the Minister of State having to sit there but that was not an answer. Bus Éireann said there are staffing shortages but it will double the service from next week. How can I put those two things together? Last week, Bus Éireann was short-staffed. It was not just for one day since this has been ongoing. It was short-staffed and could not provide the scheduled service but it says it will double the service next week. I know there are issues in the Waterford depot.

I do not ask the Minister of State to elaborate on his response, since he has a script which was supplied by another Department, but I ask him to go back to the Minister for Transport to ask him to get actively involved in this. I cannot accept the deflection, saying that this is not under the Minister's remit and that it is the NTA's problem. There is a role for the Minister. Something is happening in the Waterford depot that is particular to the area. More services have been cancelled than in other areas. Will the Minister of State relay that message to the Minister for Transport in the clearest possible terms?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The Deputy is correct that I cannot answer the question because it is not my Department and it is not my remit, so I am relaying a scripted response on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I am more than happy to take the issues back to the Department of Transport. There is a commitment in the notes that the CEO of Bus Éireann, Stephen Kent, is happy to discuss the matter directly with the Deputy and with other Deputies who have raised this. The issue of the delivery of some Waterford services was raised by a number of Members. It is important, in light of the previous question, that we get comprehensive and specific responses to what seems to be a significant challenge in this area of the south east. I am happy to take the issue back to the Minister but there is a commitment from the CEO of Bus Éireann to engage directly about the matter to try to resolve the issue.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister of State for his helpfulness. It seems that we have another reply for the waffle box.