Bus Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Roderic O'Gorman (GP), Dublin West

The Minister has set out the size and, in his own words, the unprecedented current expenditure allocation for 2026. I am concerned it only gives him enough to maintain existing levels of services. That seems to be backed up by what his officials said. The minutes of the management board meeting were quoted in the paper: "The allocation, while substantial, will not allow for new services to be delivered" in 2026. For example, on the BusConnects programme for Galway city, the NTA said in 2023 that Galway's new bus network was scheduled for 2025 to 2026. However, when I contacted the NTA in November last year, it said that the new bus network in Galway city was currently scheduled to commence implementation in 2027 to 2028, subject to operational readiness and confirmation of funding. To be clear, the NTA is saying this is not an infrastructural issue, but a funding issue. Funding is key to the decision about whether Galway gets its new BusConnects system. I am concerned that gap in funding for new services identified by the Minister's officials is the blockage for BusConnects in Galway.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15