Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 March 2025
222. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport his views on the estimated number of ‘Ghost buses’ in the Dublin 15 areas in a news report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13410/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators, in this case Go Ahead.
I am very aware however, of the recent performance issues on certain routes operated by Go Ahead Ireland in the Greater Dublin Area.
The performance of all of these public transport operators is closely monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place between it and the operators.
I want to reassure the Deputy that I recently met with the NTA to discuss a range of public transport issues, including the recent performance issues. The NTA fully acknowledged that an inadequate level of service was provided on certain routes operated on their behalf by Go Ahead Ireland in recent weeks and they have been working closely with the operator to rectify the situation.
I understand that the performance issues arose due to a shortage of mechanics within the Go-Ahead operations. Upon the occurrence of the issue, various remedial measures were taken by Go-Ahead, including flying in additional mechanics from their UK operations in addition to obtaining additional support from other sources.
I have been advised that the situation has improved significantly and fleet availability within the Go-Ahead operations has now been restored to sufficient levels.
I understand that the company have an ongoing mechanics recruitment campaign recruitment campaign underway; are continuing to invest in an apprenticeship program to train new mechanics; and they are considering further recruitment initiatives to strengthen their mechanic resources.
Fundamentally the reliability of our bus services require the type of bus priority measures we will introduce under BusConnects. This year will see construction start on the first of the BusConnects Dublin Core Bus Corridors, with Liffey Valley and Ballymun/Finglas both expected to commence, and I look forward to your support Deputy, as we implement this transformative programme.
