Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 February 2024
15. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Transport what measures he is taking to prevent cancellations and no-shows of buses in Dublin, particularly on the new BusConnects routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4414/24]
View answerOur Programme for Government commits to a ‘fundamental change in the nature of transport in Ireland’ and this is supported by the National Development Plan and significant investment plans to maintain, enhance and improve transport infrastructure across the country by 2030. The BusConnects programme is a key element of these plans.
However, I acknowledge that there are a number of service delivery issues on public transport services which my Department, the National Transport Authority (NTA) and the public transport operators are working to address.
As the Deputy will be aware, the performance of public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place between it and the operators. These contractual arrangements allow for not just the monitoring of performance and the publication of annual performance reports, but importantly, they also allow for the imposition of financial penalties where performance does not meet the required standard.
I want to reassure the Deputy that the NTA fully applies these penalties when service issues arise. While the 2023 penalty figures are still being finalised, I can confirm that by the end of Q2 2023 c. €7 million in fines had been levied against the public transport operators due to issues of performance, including lost kilometres and matters related to punctuality. In the case of Dublin Bus and Go Ahead, a large proportion of deductions relate to Lost Kilometres, particularly due to driver availability issues.
While the operators have all undertaken extensive driver recruitment campaigns over the last 12-18 months, the market remains challenging, and the driver shortage is unfortunately continuing to have a negative impact on public transport services.
I want to reassure the Deputy that the NTA and my Department will continue to closely monitor issues of service delivery closely, and to engage with the operators to seek a resolution to these issues.
