Public Transport
Dail Éireann — 2025-10-14
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Eamon Scanlon (FF), Sligo-Leitrim

I thank the Minister of State. I urge the Department to actively support a Local Link service along the route I outlined. It is essential we engage with the NTA and Local Link to conduct an engagement survey and take any necessary steps to advance this initiative. The current public transport options for students attending ATU Sligo are simply inadequate. Those students are left without a reliable service that would allow them to arrive on time at ATU or St. Angela's College. As it stands, for example, the Expressway route No. 64 from Galway is constantly delayed and can be between 30 minutes and one and a half hours late. This is a fact I can prove. I have the statistics. This means that students who rely on a bus are often unable to get to college on time. Moreover, the evening return journey is no better. Students who finish classes around 4.30 p.m. or 5 p.m. frequently find themselves stranded, waiting for an hour for the late-running return route No. 64 service from Derry. This service often does not arrive in Tubbercurry until 7.30 p.m or 8 p.m., a scenario that is unacceptable for students who have commitments, be they academic ones, part-time jobs or family responsibilities.
I have numerous testimonials from students and residents of the area highlighting the struggle they face due to these unreliable bus services. The stories reflect, not only the immediate inconvenience, but also the longer term implications for access to education and opportunities. As my home town is Ballymote, I know that there is a bus from Castlerea to Ballaghaderreen, Gorteen, Ballymote and on to Sligo. There are two large buses that collect people, particularly students, along the route. These students are delivered at the ATU in Sligo and St. Angela's College. It is a fantastic service. The two large buses are full every day on that route. I have no doubt whatsoever that if a similar route was selected and a bus could serve it, many hundreds of students in the area would use it. People cannot get accommodation in Sligo. They cannot afford it and this bus service would give an opportunity, particularly to students, to get in and out to attend their educational facilities.

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Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:04+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-10-14