Public Transport and Fare Increases: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Pat Buckley (SF), Cork East

We have been told time and again that we should all be using public transport. Yet, there are communities across east Cork that have no adequate public transport whatsoever. The Government, with a straight face, is telling those communities that public transport will now be more expensive, notwithstanding that there is no public transport there at all. It is farcical. For people in Knockadoon and Ballymacoda, which are on the coast beyond Ballycotton, it is not a question of increasing fares. There is absolutely no service there at all. A lot of those residents have contacted me in the past few weeks. Many of them are elderly and are reaching the stage where they can no longer drive. They need a good, reliable public transport link to Midleton, where they can avail of GP services, shopping, banking and other essential services.
There are approximately 4,000 people living on that eastern Cork coast. I have written to the NTA on a couple of occasions to ask about Knockadoon and Ballymacoda. The response I received stated: "The NTA does not have sufficient funding to introduce new or enhanced bus services in '26. In advance of budget '27 and a greater certainty of funding availability for enhanced or new services, we are unfortunately not able to provide a date for implementing any of the bus service enhancements." There is a difference between east Cork and Dublin. A couple of years ago, I saw a fellow out by LH 2000 at 7.30 a.m. tutting because he had missed his bus and had to wait six minutes for the next one. I said to him that if he was in my part of Cork and missed the bus on a Tuesday, it could be the next Tuesday before he got another. That is the reality of the difference between the two places.
I am very disappointed by the Minister's amendment to our motion. However, nothing surprises me.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29