Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I want to raise the issue of capacity on the E1 and E2 bus routes, on the E-spine of BusConnects. The E1 and E2 routes go between Northwood and Bray, and between Harristown and Dún Laoghaire, respectively.

The E2 is the much-lamented old 46A. We in Dún Laoghaire miss it terribly. We have to call it the E2 now. I take the E2 bus and I am grateful for it. It is also a 24-hour service which is not to be sniffed at. I take it home from Kildare Street after late votes on a Wednesday. There is not a capacity issue after midnight during the week, but there is a capacity issue in the mornings. I receive representations about this all the time. There is a problem with capacity. I know from getting the bus in the morning that there can be times when the bus passes full. It affects people on the E1 and the E2, particularly before the Foxrock church bus stop, because each of the buses serves that part of its route on its own. If there is a ghost bus as it is known locally, or a bus that does not turn up because a driver has not turned up at the depot in Dún Laoghaire or Ballywaltrim and the bus therefore cannot leave, the next bus is so full that nobody can get on it at Galloping Green and Stillorgan, etc., on the route to town. It is a significant problem.

I acknowledge that this is an excellent service for the most part. It runs every seven or eight minutes during rush hour, morning and evening, and every nine or ten minutes during the day. It is a great service. It provides a really important link for people in the suburban areas to the south east of the city into town. I am not taking it down in that way. However, it is a long bus route. I know from talking to people and from people emailing my office that there are several instances at rush hour when the bus arrives at a bus stop locally and they cannot get on because it is full, or the bus does not turn up. That is a major problem.

I have been engaging with the Department and the National Transport Authority, NTA, on the issue. I acknowledge that a review took place in September. A review was undertaken. I understand that other buses have been added to the system and that is welcome. The problem continues, however. It is particularly the case on the E2 service, with which I am familiar. There are times when you are standing at the bus stop, but the bus is full when it comes.

We have invested a huge amount of money in BusConnects. I have supported that. It has been problematic in areas like Shankill, where I have opposed it on the basis that it will cause knock-on impacts for local communities. However, BusConnects as a project has been really positive. It has shown the commitment of the State and the Government to providing public transport that is attractive, usable and incentivised for people all over this city, so it is a good thing. If we want people to use that public transport, however, we have to make it easy, comfortable and reliable for them. The problem I have with the E1 and the E2 is that is not always the case. The bus can be rammed, first of all. We would live with that but what is much worse is not being able to get on the bus at all. When people go to their normal bus stop to get to work and an earlier bus has not arrived, it causes a backlog at the bus stop. Similarly, the previous bus stops will have been more crowded than usual. This means that when the bus arrives, it is so crowded that people cannot get on. In that situation, it cannot be okay to tell people they are not going to get to work on time today because the bus they normally get - the bus they expect to be there at a particular time with capacity to get on - cannot take them. That is not okay. Such unreliability is not fair to the people who live in these areas.

I have engaged with the NTA and I accept that a review has taken place. I am certainly anxious to hear what the results of that will be. However, can we please make a commitment to drive with the NTA to ensure there is capacity and reliability so that people can depend on that service?

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ward for raising this really important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien. From the outset, it would be remiss of me not to clarify that while the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither the Minister nor his officials is involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The NTA, to which the Deputy referred, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. It works with the public transport operators who deliver the service and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. That said, I would like to reassure the Deputy that, as outlined in the programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, the Government is strongly committed to enhancing transportation networks and infrastructure development. Public transport obviously plays a key role in delivery of that goal.

To support this objective, in budget 2026 the Department of Transport secured €940 million of funding for public service obligation and TFI Local Link services. That was a 43% uplift, a really significant uplift and an increase from €658 million in 2025 to €940 million for next year. This package includes funding for the continuation of various fares initiatives such as the young adult card and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding has also been provided to extend free child fares on public service transport to include those aged five to eight years of age and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects, to which the Deputy referred, and Connecting Ireland. BusConnects, as Deputy Ward acknowledged, is a transformative project and investment in the bus system that is providing better bus services right across our cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State. It is managed by the NTA with the aim of improving the existing Transport for Ireland system through enhanced services with high-frequency spines and new local orbital and radial routes.

In terms of those high-frequency spines, Deputy Ward's constituency is a beneficiary of the E1 and E2 routes. As he said, the E2 was formerly known as the 46A. In relation to capacity on those routes, Dublin Bus has confirmed that its operation teams have identified capacity issues with the E1 service. I know the Deputy has been working closely with Dublin Bus and the NTA, which have helped to make sure those problems were addressed by providing additional morning and evening services. He spoke about how much of a pinch-point rush hour is. These additional services, which are now implemented, are there to tackle the morning and evening pinch-points on the E1.

Dublin Bus has informed the Department that along with the NTA it is monitoring the E2 service, and the data available show that customer demand is currently being met. I know that does not tally with the experience shared by the Deputy today. That is something I will definitely ask the Minister to take back to the NTA.

I want to reassure the Deputy that the Department of Transport, the NTA and the public transport operators are working to ensure the optimised deployment of resources across the network to best meet passenger demand.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge the points made by the Minister of State about the investment in the bus service and the provision of the 90-minute fare. These are all positive things. I do not dispute that for a moment. I also welcome the acknowledgement by the NTA that there are capacity issues on the E1 route. I think that is correct. I do not agree that passenger demand is being met on the E2 route, although I will say that when it works the way it is supposed to work, that is probably true. The problem arises when a bus driver is sick and does not turn up for his or her shift in Dún Laoghaire that morning. His or her bus then does not leave Dún Laoghaire. I do not know what provisions are in place to replace that driver to ensure that a bus leaves. The service is then a bus short and there is a knock-on effect all along the route. People cannot get on the bus when it gets to Honeypark, where I live, or when it gets to Deansgrange or wherever it might be. That is the issue. Maybe the review shows that when it works well, it works well. I would not dispute that. However, I know from hearing from people and, unfortunately, from standing at the bus stop myself that there are times when the bus comes and you cannot get on it. That is not okay.

This is a long route so that knock-on effect continues right the way along the route, all along the N11 and into town. With such a long route, maybe there are issues that could be addressed by starting a bus somewhere along the route; for example at Donnybrook garage. Donnybrook garage sends chills down people's spines because when you get to Donnybrook garage, you can sometimes sit on the bus for five minutes as the drivers change over, which is not ideal either. If an empty bus started at Donnybrook garage, however, it could deal with many of the capacity issues created by a ghost bus coming through the system and causing problems.

I acknowledge that a review has taken place. I acknowledge what the Minister of State said about Bus Átha Cliath continuing to monitor the E2 route. I welcome that. I ask that it would take into account the fact that it does not always work the way it is envisaged to work. It does not always do what it needs to do. It does not always meet passenger capacity. Unfortunately, my neighbours and I are sometimes left standing at a bus stop because we are not able to get on the bus.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I know the frustrations the Deputy and many of his constituents are feeling. It is not satisfactory to be left waiting at a bus stop as a full bus passes by. I am pleased that the Deputy worked so successfully to ensure there have been additional commuter services on the E1 route. As the Deputy suggested, if the E2 ran on time it might meet demand but some of the issues arise from the fact that there might be driver shortages.

I assure the Deputy that the performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place. As part of this, and in line with the regulatory powers available to the NTA to measure performance, it reports on and seeks to maintain standards across the network. There are also instances where, as the Deputy has mentioned, performance can drop and financial penalties are therefore applied, unless the cause of the performance issue is outside the control of the operator. There are measures the NTA takes to try to mitigate any such issues.

On driver shortages, changes were made to the employment permits system to allow for the issuing of 1,500 permits for bus and coach drivers with the aim of alleviating recruitment challenges by supplementing our workforce with drivers from outside the European Economic Area. The goal is improving service reliability. Public transport operators are hopeful that successful recruitment and retention of critical staff, especially drivers, will lead to improvements in reliability in the coming months. It is clear from what the Deputy has said that his issue is the reliability of the E2. I am really pleased the E1 route now has these additional buses. On behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank him for bringing this matter forward. I will of course provide his feedback to the Minister.