90. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Transport if he is aware of ongoing issues with the provision of bus services by a company (details supplied) and the fact that its contract is up for renewal shortly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34357/25]

Sentiment score: 0.01

Is the Minister aware of the ongoing issues with the provision of Go-Ahead Ireland's bus service in County Wicklow and the fact that its contract is up for renewal? I extend an invitation to him to come to Wicklow and stand at a bus stop down there with me and wait for the bus to come, seeing as invitations are being thrown out this evening.

Sentiment score: -0.06

The roll-out started in January, and there were major problems when it started. It has got better. Unfortunately, there are still problems on many routes, including the L2, L1, L3 and L15. The reality is that people who go to get a bus need to know that it will show up. They need more than to think that it might show up or that it will show up most of the time. A bus needs to show up every single time or else people will not use buses and will not be able to trust the service. Unfortunately, that is what is happening in Wicklow, with buses not showing up, buses being late and elderly people having to wait for two hours for an hourly bus that just did not appear. I have had two instances this month of the last bus of the night being cancelled. It is completely unacceptable for that to happen. I raised the matter with the NTA, which stated that this is not to be allowed at all. We have had multiple instances of it, so there are still major problems.

Sentiment score: -0.14

I thank the Minister for that. I acknowledge that there have been improvements, but some routes have been particularly hit. I believe they are those routes in Wicklow. This is one of the problems. When a bus does not show up, it requires the person left standing there to email the NTA, Go-Ahead Ireland or a TD. They usually come to a public representative and say there are problems. When we see that there are multiple problems, we raise the matter here with the Minister. What would be really useful is transparency when it comes to what is being missed. No-Show Bus in Cork was set up by a student there, and there is one in Dublin that was set up by Dublin Inquirer. If we had some sort of system like that, it would bring greater transparency in respect of this problem. If we could see exactly how problematic this is, the difficulties it is causing and on what routes it is causing them, in a more real-time fashion, that would be very useful.

Sentiment score: -0.00