Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, has today called on Minister Eamon Ryan to intervene in the ongoing crisis in the bus service in Cork city. His comments come as figures he received show that Bus Éireann spent over half a million euro in the last 12 months trying to plug the gaps in the service with private coaches while Bus Éireann today announced they have now been forced to reduce timetables because of the crisis.

Teachta Gould said:

“Over the last 3 weeks, I have held public meetings across Cork North Central culminating in a protest last Saturday about the state of the bus service in Cork city.

“Figures released to me through FOI show that almost 1 in every 2 buses are either not turning up to a stop on time or not turning up at all. That’s not a service, it is a disservice to the people of Cork city.

“Following the immense pressure on Bus Éireann and the NTA, they have now announced they will be reducing timetables in the near future. This is not ideal but I am hoping it will make the buses more reliable. I have been speaking with Bus Éireann and they have not been able to tell me if these reduced timetables will mean a reduction in funding. The Minister must ensure that this doesn’t happen because we cannot have the bus service faring worse than it is now currently.

“At all of our public meetings, passengers told us that they are sick and tired of waiting at stops for scheduled buses that never show up. The reduced timetables must be a temporary measure to stop this from happening.

“Alongside this, I am completely shocked that Bus Éireann spent a quarter of a million euro paying private contractors to run the public bus service in July and August. I met with Bus Éireann on Friday and raised this with them. Not only did they agree to road works that would see 9 bus routes diverted over the summer months and into the start of the school year but they also forked out hundreds of thousands of euro to pay for private coach operators to run the bus service during this time.

“This is beyond scandalous. Over the last 12 months, half a million euro has been spent on these private contractors but to make it even worse, €420,000 of this was spent in July and August alone. This would be better spent on improving driver’s pay and conditions to retain the drivers they have and entice new drivers into Bus Éireann.

“Drivers are telling me that they were not allowed to take annual leave for extended periods this year because of driver shortage. Clearly these leave entitlements built up and caused this issue. These figures are fundamental proof that there is a crisis in the bus service in Cork and this is impacting passengers and drivers.

“At our recent series of public meetings, passengers were clear. They don’t want to use private coaches to get around, they want a reliable public bus service. That is what Bus Éireann are funded to deliver and if that funding is not sufficient then they must come out and clearly lay their issues out to the NTA. The current system of the NTA deciding timetables and routes with no input from those actually delivering the service is at the root of this crisis. The NTA and Bus Éireann management must listen to drivers and listen to passengers.

“This wastage of public funding to pay private companies to deliver a public service is yet further proof of this government’s erosion of our public services. Fine Gael have long idolised the Thatcherite privatisation agendas that have failed public transport in England. They have created so many layers of bureaucracy and redtape that it is now nearly impossible to deliver the public service that people need in Cork city. Half a million euro spent on private coach companies is further proof of this. People want a safe, reliable and accessible bus service in Cork city, this crisis is preventing that.

“Reduced timetables will not solve this problem. It is only a plaster over a gaping wound. I am hopeful it will mean people can depend on the schedule as the weather worsens but it is not a long-term solution and the Minister must now intervene to come up with a plan to ensure that Cork’s public bus service is delivered efficiently, safely and reliably.”