Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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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?

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Gould for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien. From the outset, I would like to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport but neither the Minister nor his 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, which deliver the services and 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 and realistic sustainable mobility options and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. As the Deputy will be well aware, bus services in Cork city have, unfortunately, been experiencing significant reliability issues for a combination of reasons, including both driver availability issues and traffic congestion. The NTA and Bus Éireann are working together on the matter and are holding weekly meetings to review plans to rectify these issues.

There has been an increase in recruitment efforts, which have included open days and a number of online campaigns. There are currently a number of candidates in the process of completing their driver school training and following this, Bus Éireann expects to be in a position to fully operate their existing timetabled services in late November.

However, I understand that additional drivers are required in order for Bus Éireann to introduce the required timetable changes that would help in alleviating some of the issues regarding congestion and reliability issues seen on some routes. It is intended that there will be changes to the timetable along a number of routes on a phased basis as and when these drivers become available. A number of timetable fixes have been implemented on certain routes already.

Bus Éireann has advised that it has the necessary number of applicants within its recruitment pipeline to address the additional driver requirements outlined above. Its assessments factor in applicant attrition rates and mixtures of candidates with and without the D-category licence, as well as other relevant factors such as retirements, resignations and short-term absenteeism.

I can also confirm that as part of the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan, the TFI Local Link route 255 from Kinsale to Cork west was recently launched in August 2025. This new route 255 operates four daily return services between Charles Fort and the west of Cork city from Monday to Sunday. The new route provides peak-time services connectivity to Forthill, Kinsale College, Kinsale Community Hospital, Halfway, Ballinhassig, Wilton Shopping Centre, Cork University Hospital, Munster TU Campus and regional bus services.

BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system providing better bus services across our cities, including in Cork. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State and is managed by the NTA. Planning for the implementation of the new bus network has commenced and it is expected that the new network will be implemented on a phased basis over the coming years subject to funding and resource availability.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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I would advise the Minister of State to go back to the Department now and find out whoever wrote that speech for him because that speech was not worth the paper it was written on. I got all the same excuses and the same promises last year. Here we are now and the Minister of State is being rolled in here to read out the same old claptrap again while the people of Cork cannot get a bus.

The Minister of State is talking about a bus to Kinsale. There are 150,000 people living in Cork and he is talking about a bus to Kinsale. There are 25,000 students in UCC and another 15,000 in MTU and he is talking about people from Kinsale going to college, but what about the people of Cork going to college? Some 150,000 people cannot get a bus and the Minister of State is coming in here talking about four buses a day. This is fecking crazy stuff. The Government has a responsibility to deliver a public bus service that delivers for the people. The Minister of State outlined there that the timetables were realistic. I met the company two years ago and told them over in Bus Éireann. I met with them. I sat down in the office and said your timetables are not realistic; they do not add up. I also told them buses should not be going from the north side to the south side because they are getting caught in traffic. They should be turned in the city centre and sent back out the way they came. I was told that could not be done either. We are trying the big solutions here. The Minister of State comes in here and tells me about a recruitment problem. There was a recruitment problem three years ago. What did the company do? Who is responsible? The first line of the Minister of State's speech was that this is a matter for the NTA. He said this is not the Minister's job and not the Government's job-----

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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That is not what I said.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is your job. It is your job to make sure people can get to work in the morning. I was contacted by a woman. I am asking you now, as Minister of State-----

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Through the Chair.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----to go to my Facebook page with the Department of Transport and look at the messages that were left there. A girl was waiting an hour and a half to get a bus home from college on her own.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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Is it right that in the pitch black of night girls and women are being left on their own?

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is not good enough and that response was shocking.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Thank you, Deputy. The Minister of State to reply.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. First, I accept and I said here that the service is not right. I have also said I and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, are not responsible for the day-to-day running of the service - we are responsible for providing the funding. If there are issues with the service we will get to the bottom of it. I know there have been issues with getting drivers and I appreciate the Deputy's frustration and that of the people in Cork. There is no point in having a public bus service if we are not able to deliver it. We will work to get it right, we will work to get the additional people in place, but there are also new routes that have to be put in to try to avoid the congestion and to put in BusConnects. The timetable and the scheduling is being looked at and as I said to the Deputy, Bus Éireann and the NTA are meeting weekly to try to resolve some of these issues. I would say to the Deputy as well-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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Will you meet with Bus Éireann?

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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Sorry-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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Will you meet with them?

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Deputy, please.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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A Chathaoirligh.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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You said they are meeting every week. I am saying will you meet with Bus Éireann?

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Deputy, please. Through the Chair.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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With due respect, Deputy, you had your time and-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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But you are telling me they are meeting. Will you meet with them?

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Let the Minister of State respond.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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If you could have the manners to let me talk, please. It is just common courtesy. I gave that to you. What I would say to you is I meet Bus Éireann on a regular basis where issues arise and I can meet it on this, but I will not be goaded into it or bullied into it by you.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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No, but it is all right for people to stand in the cold and the rain-----

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Deputy, let the Minister of State respond.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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What do you want?

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----because you will not take a lesson from me. Is that it?

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Deputy, please let the Minister of State respond.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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No, I would say he can have the time. Sure he knows it all.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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I know the people of Cork have no bus service. That is what I know.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Please, Deputy.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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The people of Cork cannot get a bus.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Deputy-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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That is what I know.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Please, Deputy. Is the Minister of State finished?

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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There is no point in talking when he shouts over me.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Okay, I am moving on to the second Topical Issue matter from Deputy Sherlock.