Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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30. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport whether the difficulty by bus companies in recruiting and retaining staff will delay or hinder plans to improve public transport and to reach climate targets; if his Department plans to deal with staffing levels specifically on public service obligation services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45984/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 43 and 89 together.

As with many industries, bus operators are experiencing significant challenges in recruiting qualified staff following the return to economic activity in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The public transport industry has been particularly hard-hit with many operators experiencing difficulties in recruiting drivers as they attempt to return to pre-pandemic levels of activity, as well as deliver intended service improvements such as the BusConnects Network Redesign in Dublin.

The National Transport Authority is in regular contact with bus operators, who are making every attempt to recruit more drivers so that all services can run as scheduled. Several operators have undertaken extensive driver recruitment campaigns in recent months with staff levels beginning to improve gradually, and significant numbers of additional drivers expected to become available once their required training and tests are complete and licences are issued by the Road Safety Authority (RSA). The National Transport Authority has engaged with the RSA to expedite the testing and licence issue process for new bus drivers. In addition the Authority has undertaken a national advertising campaign to attract bus drivers to the industry.

The impact of shortfalls in driver numbers is felt the most when low-frequency services are cancelled. The Authority and operators have been working to ensure that such cancellations are minimised, that – where possible – consecutive low frequency services are not withdrawn, and that first and last daily services on a route operate.

The NTA is aware of the major inconvenience that the current poor service performance is causing for passengers. However, operators are forecasting significant improvements in reliability in the coming months, dependent on successful recruitment and retention of critical staff, in particular drivers. I will continue to engage with the NTA to ensure that all operators in the bus market provide a satisfactory level of service to meet the demands of customers in line with their contracts.