Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will also bring up the issue of public transport in County Cavan and the 109 bus, as presented by my colleague. It is not just a capacity issue. We have seen situations where buses do not show up at all. I have written to Bus Éireann, which has stated to me it has an increased number of cancellations as a result of having insufficient mechanics available at its Broadstone garage. This is a huge inconvenience to people. The 109 is the one route we have to Dublin. I ask the Tánaiste to do something to try to address that. Along with that, I raised previously the need for a park-and-ride facility at Whitegate that could facilitate more people, as we are trying to push people onto public transport.

I have written to the NTA, which is doing fantastic work on the Local Link service. A new service from Cootehill to Virginia is opening. I asked the NTA to include Killinkere as a stop point for the communities of upper and lower Killinkere. It has said "No" because it will not reroute the bus, but it is possible to put a stop somewhere on the main route that will facilitate people in Killinkere.

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