Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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199. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is aware of the persistent and worsening failures of the Bus Éireann 101 service which services communities between Dublin and Drogheda, including Balbriggan, Balrothery, and other North County Dublin towns; if he is aware of systemic collapse of operational standards on this route that affects the daily wellbeing, financial stability, and social functioning of hundreds, if not thousands, of residents in Dublin Fingal; If he is aware that despite multiple formal complaints made directly to Bus Éireann since February 2025, service users report that no response has been received; if he is aware that on the evening of 15 February the 18.35 and 18.55 services from Busáras to Drogheda failed to arrive (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24993/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators, in this case Bus Éireann.

The performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place between it and the operators. These contractual arrangements allow for not just the monitoring of performance by the NTA and the publication by it of annual performance reports, but importantly, the contracts also allow for the imposition of financial penalties where performance does not meet the required standard.

We need our public transport to be reliable. Workers, tourists and businesses need to be certain they can rely on their public transport system. In the main, they are and our public transport operators operate very well. We saw record passenger numbers on public transport last year. People are responding because fares are affordable but there are issues from time to time, particularly in relation to our bus fleet and buses not turning up. That is why I have met the NTA on several occasions and charged it with reviewing the phenomenon of buses not turning up.

We are also enhancing real-time service tracking, including through the TFI app, to provide passengers with accurate, up-to-date information on arrival times, as well as timely notifications of any delays, cancellations, or service disruptions.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Bus Éireann in conjunction with the NTA. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to Bus Éireann and the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.