Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1390. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to allow vehicles transporting blood to travel in bus lanes. [55060/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Bus lanes were created, at some expense to the taxpayer, to provide on-street priority for bus-based public transport. 

In addition to buses, the emergency services may also use bus lanes, as may cyclists, due to their status as vulnerable road users. Taxis are permitted to use with-flow bus lanes, due to the fact that they are available to the public for on-street hire.

My predecessors and I have received numerous requests over the years to open bus lanes to other classes of traffic. They and I have always rejected these requests, as they would undermine the efficiency of the lanes for the purpose for which they were introduced. While some additional classes of traffic may not involve many vehicles, it would be difficult to justify adding any one of the many proposed additional categories while refusing others.