Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like other Senators, I wish to raise the issue of Bus Éireann. For many people in rural Ireland, their only form of transport is Bus Éireann. If someone from Monaghan, Cavan or many other parts of rural Ireland wishes to travel to Dublin, the only hope of getting there is a Bus Éireann bus. People in Cavan and Monaghan do not have a train service that links directly to the capital city. People in Monaghan who wish to travel to Dublin take route No. 32, which is the main route from Letterkenny to Dublin. By the time the bus stops in Monaghan, though, there are no seats left. Being left standing with no service available is frustrating for people. Many of them are attending hospital appointments or going to work or college. The service is not up to scratch and people are being discommoded as a result. For people with travel passes, for example, elderly people attending hospital appointments, there is the added frustration of there being no facility to book a seat on the bus. This is not the case with Iarnród Éireann. In light of the lack of a service available to people in Monaghan and the shambles that is the school transport system, we need an urgent debate in the new year on bus services, particularly in counties like Monaghan and Cavan where the bus is the only show in town. The service that Bus Éireann provides has many good aspects, but I am saddened to say that the experience in Monaghan is very disappointing and not good enough. People should not be expected to live with a second class service. The people of Monaghan deserve no less than anyone else.