Bus Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-24
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Seán Canney (IND), Galway East

I thank the Deputy. I reassure him again that the Department, its Minister, Deputy O’Brien, my fellow Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are fully committed to delivering a more sustainable, inclusive and accessible transport system for the benefit of current and future generations. In the Programme for Government: Securing Ireland’s Future, the Government committed to the continued roll-out of the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan. Investment can be seen in the enhanced route 521 between Newcastle West and Charleville. This enhanced service now includes the addition of an early-morning service and higher frequency services from Thursday to Sunday. It operates seven daily return services from Monday to Wednesday, nine daily return services from Thursday to Saturday and four daily return services on Sunday. The route also provides late-evening and peak-time services for commuters and improved connectivity to Limerick city.
The NTA has stated a number of new routes and route enhancements under the plan have yet to be implemented. The Deputy mentioned route 256 between Bantry and Macroom. This is at an advanced stage of planning and commencement is subject to funding. Discussions are ongoing between the Department of Transport and the NTA. Currently, they do not have a definite timeframe, but I can assure the Deputy that route 256, and the 257 and 233 he mentioned, will be raised with the Department and the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, and the other Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer. We will see where we can get with them.
I appreciate the Deputy’s passionate plea. Coming from a rural constituency myself, I see the growth in demand for public transport. It is up to the Government to deliver on that. I thank the Deputy.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-24