Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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57. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the actions he has taken to address the efficiency and reliability issues with the 30 and X30 bus service which runs between Cavan and Dublin Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42114/24]

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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What actions has the Minister taken to address the efficiency and reliability issues with the 30 and X30 bus service, which runs between Cavan and Dublin Airport? The service begins in Donegal, goes through Fermanagh and Cavan and then on to the airport.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I first should clarify that both the 30 and X30 bus services are part of Expressway, a commercial branch of Bus Éireann. Expressway services receive no State subvention, and decisions regarding service enhancements are based on commercial viability. The National Transport Authority is responsible for the licensing of public bus passenger services under the provisions of the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, and neither I nor my Department have a role in this process.

Bus Éireann fully acknowledges the concerns raised regarding the efficiency and reliability of both the 30 and X30 Expressway services connecting Cavan and Dublin Airport. At the beginning of this year, the company conducted a review of the route, based on customer feedback and punctuality data, and subsequently in February 2024 applied to the NTA to introduce an improved timetable to better align with the needs of customers and the communities along the route.

Due to the unique nature of the Cavan to Dublin Airport route, which traverses the Border, the timelines for consideration of such applications are extended. This is primarily because of the necessary considerations and approvals required from both the NTA and the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland, and engagement with relevant local authorities. I can confirm that the NTA approved Bus Éireann’s request for a licence amendment on 7 October 2024. However, during the application process, local authorities required some alterations to the original timetable proposal, which will add some time to the implementation of the changes.

I understand that Bus Éireann is on track to roll out the new, improved timetable, which will increase the frequency of services at certain stops along route 30, in the coming months. Additionally, Bus Éireann have made adjustments to create a more realistic and dynamic timetable, which the company believes will benefit customers.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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This is a huge issue. One couple, who divide their time between Britain and Ireland, contacted me. They have been using the bus service to the airport approximately once a month over the last three years and not once has the bus come on time. It is consistently late, anything from 30 minutes to an hour. We are not talking about five or ten minutes, nobody would mind that. We know that buses can get held up. The last time they went to get the bus it was 50 minutes late and then the driver said he needed to take 30 minutes to have his break. Everyone is deserving of a break but that should be factored into the bus timetable. It should not affect the bus. The bus therefore was almost an hour and a half late. When they contact Bus Éireann they are told to leave lots of time to get to the airport, but how much time do you actually need? It is taking hours of additional time to get there. I hear from holidaymakers who might only use the service once or twice a year. They say the bus has never been on time and they have to leave a couple of hours' additional time to get to the airport to make their flight. It is just not an efficient service and it needs to be addressed.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome that the Minister agreed to my earlier question that he would raise with the National Transport Authority and Bus Éireann the possibility of introducing early morning and late afternoon direct services between Cavan, Virginia and Whitegate and Dublin. That would ease a lot of the problems in relation to the disappointment so many commuters have on an ongoing basis in not getting a bus at the scheduled time. They are standing at a bus stop, many of them coming from hospital appointments and so on. It is not acceptable.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I want to raise route 336 with the Minister. A lady was in contact with me who has to travel from Kilmihil to Ennis Monday to Friday for her further and higher education course. It is 29.8 km and it costs her €81 per week, which is not sustainable for anyone doing a course. I also want to point to route 343. It has been split into two routes, 330 and 343. This is leading to people having to pay twice what they had to pay before for the same distance. Some are appealing for the 90-minute Leap card to be used in that instance. Also, they have relocated the route. It now goes along the R472 and it is too narrow. There have been a number of near-collisions.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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To Deputy Tully, the uncertainty of such a bus, particularly going to the airport where people might be nervous, is unacceptable. They are told to go earlier but the airport times have lengthened in recent years.

That imposes a cost and burden on the consumer, so we need greater certainty. The same applies to the questions put by Deputies Smith and Wynne.

Bus Éireann is working well as a company and the passenger numbers are way ahead of projections, but we need to continue to evolve and get greater efficiency and flexibility in how the company works. It is in a difficult environment. As I said, these bus services are competing in the market and are not regulated by the State, given they are not public service obligation routes. I will meet representatives of Bus Éireann early next week because we are really thinking big about the company, such as about how we can integrate the school transport system with our public transport system. Where there might be five services a day on a current route, we might get up to seven services a day if that could be integrated, which would make the timetable work more effectively for everyone.

Bus Éireann does have challenges, because of difficulties getting drivers and mechanics and problems with congestion in large parts of the country, which is their biggest impediment, but we as public representatives can help the company there by providing bus gates and enhanced bus priority. I am confident the company will respond to what it has heard here today and assess the timetables, which Deputies Smith and Tully raised in the context of those Cavan routes, and give feedback in due course.