Bus Services
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-16
============================================================

Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim

I thank the Senator for raising this topic. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, with her and the Members of the House.
From the outset, I would like to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services nationally rests with the NTA. It delivers the services and has responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.
That said, I reassure the Senator that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2026 the Department of Transport secured €940 million of funding for public service obligation, PSO, and TFI Local Link services, which was a significant 43% uplift from the €658.4 million secured in 2025.
However, I understand the Senator wishes to discuss the reliability and connectivity of the 80 bus route and the proposed changes from the NTA to that route. BusConnects, as I am no doubt the Senator is aware, is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system, providing better bus services across our cities. It is the largest investment in the history of the State and is managed by the NTA. The aim of the network is to improve the existing Transport for Ireland system through enhanced services, with high-frequency spines and new local orbital and radial routes.
As the Senator is aware, on 28 November, following customer feedback and engagement with public representatives, the NTA announced a two-stage plan to revise route 80. From early 2026, route 80 will operate from Liffey Valley to Chapelizod on a revised alignment along the quays, crossing the Liffey at O'Connell Bridge rather than Bridge Street and running through College Green and Great South George's Street. This temporary measure will improve access to the city centre ahead of the planned pedestrianisation of College Green.
In quarter 2 of 2026, route 80 will link with route 130, continuing along the north quays and O'Connell Bridge to Eden Quay and northwards through the city centre to Clontarf. This alignment will maintain a ten-minute peak frequency and provide new connectivity to the Luas green line at O'Connell Street and the DART at Connolly Station, offering passengers more options for onward travel. The NTA acknowledges that, for a variety of reasons, including city centre congestion, route 80 does not meet expectations following its introduction. I heard what the Senator said.
When rolling out phases of the BusConnects network, the NTA commenced monitoring of new services, identifying issues and implementing fixes, where appropriate. That is what the Senator has raised today. In planning the redesign of the network, the NTA considered Dublin City Council's plans to transform College Green and Dame Street into a pedestrian friendly plaza which will restrict east-west bus movements through College Green. That is why route 80 was originally routed through Bridge Street. However, customer feedback indicated that continuing along the quays to O'Connell Street would provide greater benefits, including improved bus priority measures and enhanced connectivity through O'Connell Street and onward transport services. The NTA has reviewed this feedback and agrees that change makes sense.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-16