Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I am really disappointed. This Topical Issue was first scheduled for 23 April. The Minister was not available and I was asked whether I would postpone it until he was available, which was today. Unfortunately, he is not here. That is very disappointing.

I want to discuss issues relating to BusConnects for Wicklow. I have a number of concerns. The primary one arises from reports that Go-Ahead is contracted to manage BusConnects for Wicklow. When the public found out that was the case, there was concern because the reputation of Go-Ahead in Wicklow is very poor. Constituents are continually on to me about poor service, no-shows and treatment of passengers.

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There are many concerns about it and questions must be asked as to how a service that is proving to be such a poor service has actually managed to be awarded another contract.

There are a few specific points. I have spoken to people in Enniskerry. There is one Go-Ahead service that runs an hour from Enniskerry but oftentimes the buses just do not show up at all. There are breakdowns and the buses are consistently late coming from Bray. Last week the 1.30 p.m and the 2.30 p.m. buses did not arrive. People had a three-hour wait for a bus to bring them 20 minutes away. It is completely unacceptable. People are missing medical appointments. Elderly people are being left at bus stops for hours waiting for these services. I was told that this bus service had previously been run by Dublin Bus and people were very happy with it. It was a very good service. Despite the fact there were fewer buses the reliability was there. People are very disappointed that Go-Ahead has received this contract. People are requesting that the No. 185 service be returned to Dublin Bus because of the better service that was provided.

I have also spoken to a lady from Bray who has epilepsy. She was on a bus, she took a seizure and she was violently ill. She was kicked off the bus. She was made to clean up before she was put off the bus. When she wrote to Go-Ahead to complain there was no apology from them. They just acknowledged what had happened but offered no apology. These are the kinds of service and experiences that people are having.

I am repeatedly told that parents worry about their children who are using the service to get to school. The bus does not show up and they cannot get to school. Parents are leaving their young adults on the road at night waiting for buses to show. There is a multitude of examples to show that Go-Ahead really needs to up their game. I believe that people's concerns are valid when it comes to this new service being provided to them.

I have a number of concerns around BusConnects, which was first mooted in 2018. This is when the public consultations happened. This area in north Wicklow has now grown considerably and we have thousands more people and much greater demand. I am aware the NTA conducted a revised proposal but I still do not believe that the planned service will actually meet the needs of the community. I would ask that they keep it under close review to ensure that it does. In addition, many of the services are now going through the interchange in Bray. Unfortunately, Main Street in Bray is absolutely grid-locked all the time. This route is a bad idea. Buses are just going to get caught on it. The Main Street is not ready to be the focal point of a bus route at this point in time. Would they consider having an interchange at a different point outside Main Street that would just allow buses to move more frequently? I am interested to hear where we are with the update and when these services will come into play.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Whitmore for raising this important issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, has been delayed. I was on standby to take this and I was under the impression that the Minister of State would be here. I have taken note of the issues raised by the Deputy and I hope the script will be able to provide some of the answers.

From the outset I want to clarify that the Minister of State's Department has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. Neither that Department nor its officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services.

The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority, NTA. The NTA works with the public transport operators who deliver the services and who have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. That said, I would like to reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable, realistic and sustainable mobility options. Public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective the Department secured €613 million in funding in budget 2024 for the public service obligation, PSO, and TFI Local Link services. This includes funding for the continuation until the end of 2024 of the 20% fare reduction on PSO services, the young adult card on both PSO and commercial bus services, and the 90-minute fare. Funding has also been secured to support new and enhanced bus and rail services this year. The Deputy will be aware that the Government is committed to improving public transport in bus and rail and is backing up that commitment with significant investment across the network. This includes the continual roll-out of the Bus Connects programme.

On the Deputy's specific question on performance issues with the No. 84 bus route I understand there have been issues with some bus services in north Wicklow in recent months, in particular the No. 84 and No. 84a services, and that these issues have had a negative impact on the travelling public, including students in Kilcoole to whom the Deputy referred. I want to reassure the Deputy that the Minister of State's Department and the NTA understand that service reliability for routes Nos. 84 and 84a needs to be addressed as a matter of priority. I understand that Dublin Bus is working to secure additional bus drivers at the Donnybrook depot over the coming weeks to help alleviate the performance issues, which will significantly improve service reliability on the route.

Beyond that, the planned continued roll-out of BusConnects Dublin will involve the creation of new bus routes and improved bus frequencies to help transform the public transport network to meet anticipated growth and further demand in the region. I must say that I was really disappointed when the Deputy spoke about a person who had a seizure being asked to leave a bus and to clean up before she left. It is actually unbelievable that this would be the case. I could not believe it; it is appalling.

The Deputy will be aware that the most recent phase at the BusConnects network redesign in Dublin, phase 5b, commenced on 26 November and involved the introduction of new southern orbital radial and local routes. This represented an increase in service level of approximately 80% for the area, which makes it one of the most significant changes under the network redesign to date. It is currently anticipated that the next phase of the network redesign, phase 6a, which includes E-spine and associated services, will commence later this year and that the planned O route will also commence service by year end. A more precise launch date will be known closer to the time when the NTA has completed detailed checks and operational readiness with the operators.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I do understand that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has been handed this document but unfortunately the Department is unable to predict the specifics of my questions, so a lot of what I have asked has not been answered. Perhaps the Minister of State will make sure the Department provides answers. That would be welcome. It is disappointing as well that there is no specific date for it. We were given a specific date of the second quarter this year and that has been pushed on. It seems there are delays with it.

I want to use the remainder of my time to talk about west Wicklow, which is not actually included under this phase of the BusConnects route. There are plans to include it. In 2017 BusConnects proposed to replace the No. 65 bus with the L-44 and the P-44 buses. The No. 65 route operates every two hours with 16 services a day. It is an increase on the 15 services a day that were operating 20 years ago. In 20 years they have had one additional service. The town of Blessington has tripled in population and there are more housing developments going in so there is a clear need for a better No. 65 service. Unfortunately, because it was earmarked to be part of the BusConnects plan the NTA refused to upgrade it until the L-44 and the P-44 services are in place. While this was first indicated in 2017 it would appear now that it will be 2025 - potentially the forth quarter of 2025 - before that happens. That just does not make sense to me. A route has not been upgraded on the basis that this new plan is coming out but the new plan keeps getting pushed out. In the meantime people are disadvantaged because the No. 65 route is not being upgraded. I ask that the NTA would upgrade this route and provide additional services. Then when they introduce the BusConnects plan it will be brilliant because they can just switch it over. It is not fair, however, to ask the people of Blessington to put up with a poor service because the NTA is having difficulties rolling out a major project like BusConnects.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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In fairness to the Deputy - and I believe the Ceann Comhairle will agree - as she had already suspended this particular question, and as I am not in a position to answer fully the Deputy's response, I will ask that one of the officials meet with the Deputy and she can discuss her issues in detail. I will try to organise this for next week. The Deputy has already deferred this Topical Issue matter previously. I cannot respond to those individual questions as they are not here in the file. The NTA is working closely with Dublin Bus to take the steps that can be taken to improve service delivery on the No. 84 route. The Deputy also referred to issues on the west Wicklow services. This might be the best way forward if the Deputy is agreeable.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Okay. I thank the Minister of State.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here to deal with these matters and I thank the Deputies who tabled Topical Issues matters for today.