Public Transport
Dail Éireann — 2024-10-17
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Eamon Ryan (GP), Dublin Bay South

In response to the three Deputies, we have mechanisms to encourage - and the NTA delivers - so-called "enhancements". Where we find there is a service under pressure and a bus is full, we can fund and provide for additional buses.
That is different from what I heard Deputies Tully and Smith talking about and I take the point. Are we seeing buses full with relatively short-hop passengers, to Navan and Kells, meaning that passengers to Cavan are frozen out? I will raise that with Bus Éireann when I speak to it.
It is not only Bus Éireann that is relevant. There are private operators. Often people think private operators have an advantage over the PSO routes, which may be compelled to stop in a number of locations on route. Often private operators, if there is that gap in the market, have successfully delivered non-stop or one-stop services from the likes of Cavan up to Dublin or further afield. What we saw during Covid is a lot of those operators ran into real difficulty. Prior to that they had continued to see massive expansion. I believe it benefits us that we have both a strong Bus Éireann and strong contract or private bus-operated services because they often provide a useful role where there is a gap, particularly where one might want one-stop services. The private sector also has a role.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2024-10-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:22+00:00
Sitting date: 2024-10-17