Public Transport
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-18
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Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

Our Department, the NTA and service operators are working hard to deliver improvements to public transport services, including contactless payments and late-night services. We have delivered significant improvements over the past number of years, which should be pointed out. I thank the Deputy for his advocacy and commitment to enhanced public transport. The continued roll-out of the BusConnects network redesign has given passengers across the greater Dublin area more late-night options that ever before. We now have 15 24-hour bus services operating seven days a week across the city.
That means the vast majority of the suburbs now have access to a daily round-the-clock bus service. It is a significant change from five years ago, when there was no 24-hour provision at all.
In addition, Dublin Bus operates 12 nitelink services between midnight and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, linking the city centre to suburban areas during peak late-night demand. Most other Dublin Bus routes run until 11.30 p.m. daily. Go-Ahead Ireland operates 35 routes across Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, with most running from morning until midnight. We also have the rail and Luas services running at capacity, with additional late-night trains provided, where possible, during peak periods.
We are acutely aware of the benefits these services bring. As the Minister said, it is about reliability and putting public service transport on a sustainable footing. The Deputy's question captures a fundamental shift we must engage in, as a society and on the part of service operators and providers. That shift relates to a movement towards early-morning and late-night working. We must think differently to address the needs of those workers, including workers in the night-time economy. The Deputy's question is a very pertinent one for all of us involved in this area. We have seen change, and more change is needed. I will say more about that in my supplementary response. The Deputy has asked a very good question.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-18