Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 May 2024
65. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide on update on what engagement his Department has had with Bus Éireann to address the impact of the shortage of drivers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22022/24]
View answerWill the Minister provide an update on what engagement his Department has had with Bus Éireann to address the impact of the shortage of drivers on the service?
I thank the Deputy for highlighting one of the biggest ongoing challenges facing the public transport sector. I confirm that my Department continues to engage extensively with the NTA and operators on this issue.
Unfortunately, it is the case that many operators, both public and private, continue to experience difficulties in recruiting new drivers. In its attempts to attract new drivers to the company in the numbers required, Bus Éireann has undertaken significant driver recruitment campaigns in recent months, engaged in press activation, introduced an employee referral programme, and run more than 30 open days to attract drivers. Bus Éireann has also set up dedicated training schools in counties Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford to train drivers who have B class car licences to achieve the requisite D class licence to drive a bus. I am pleased to advise that the driver pipeline is building slowly due to the growing focus that the company has placed on B licence drivers and that the combination of these efforts has resulted in nearly 500 new drivers being recruited by the company since the beginning of last year. However, the situation remains challenging and, despite these efforts, Bus Éireann has advised that it still has some 66 vacancies throughout the country.
In the short term, Bus Éireann continues to build a pool of candidates that can be trained to become bus drivers but until all these positions are filled, Bus Éireann will be challenged in delivering services. Bus Éireann, and other transport operators in the country, have been working hard to fill bus driver positions as evident from their comprehensive recruitment campaigns. The NTA meanwhile continues to work closely with all operators to try to mitigate the impacts of these driver shortages and will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves.
I was in the training centre in Cork last year. It was very impressive to see the plans there. It is to be hoped that these will bear fruit in producing extra drivers to fill those vacancies. I read an article earlier this month in which Bus Éireann CEO Stephen Kent said that approximately 2,000 extra drivers were required. I assume that is building on the future improvements with BusConnects and so on. As the Minister said, we are well short of that and are struggling to recruit what is currently required.
The big difficulty I have, speaking with my Cork North-Central hat on, is with the 214 bus service in Glanmire, where I live. It has been described nationally as the worst performing route in the country as regards buses turning up on time or at all. When we talk to Bus Éireann about it, it blames traffic congestion - a lot of construction is going on in Glanmire at present - but the shortage of drivers is specifically referenced. What further steps can the Minister take to improve the 214 service?
I will make a wider point that Bus Éireann has a real challenge, as all our bus companies do, in getting drivers. This is across public and private services in every part of the country. Bus Éireann, however, is proving to be incredibly successful at present. I remember meeting Mr. Kent a year or two ago, when he said we might get up to 100 million passenger journeys last year. It actually had 106 million. The traffic numbers on Bus Éireann buses is 20% above pre-Covid levels. Some 3,000 people work in the company. It employed 337 new drivers last year and a further 93 in the first quarter of this year. It is a company that has seen a huge increase in passenger numbers and a large number of new routes being rolled out. It has a key role in the likes of Cork in delivery of bus services.
To help Bus Éireann and to make this happen, we need all the recruitment efforts but we also need to deliver BusConnects in Cork so that bus drivers and their passengers are not stuck in traffic. That has been challenging. There has been quite an extensive consultation process in the city. In fairness to the NTA and Cork city and county councils, they have amended the plans. I believe they are now at a stage where they are ready to go. We still have to go through a very extensive planning process, which is probably the most frustrating thing as regards delays or timelines. That has proven to be a real difficulty. However, subject to us introducing that, the bus drivers we have will be much more effective because they will be on buses that will fly through traffic rather than be stuck in it.
I use the train service regularly in Cork, more so than buses. The difficulty I see lying ahead for us is that while trains turn up on time and always arrive, the same surety is not there for people when it comes to using their local bus service. For the 214 bus in Glanmire, in particular, and the 208 in Mayfield, the impact of BusConnects will be transformative for the city. It will be overwhelmingly positive. As the Minister said, there are a number of hurdles to overcome in order to get there.
My concern about the big plans and the significant investment planned with BusConnects is that if we do not have the drivers, we will continue to experience the same service, which, in the case of the 214, has been described as the worst performing route in the country. That is the concern. Every week, and it happens literally every second day, we get phone calls and text messages from constituents complaining that the bus did not show up, or the information board indicated it would be there in seven, 12 or 15 minutes, when it arrived 40, 50 or 60 minutes later. Even the accuracy of stuff that goes up on the information board, and little practical things like that, need to be improved on as well.
I will bring up a similar issue. It is not only the lack of bus drivers. Sometimes, it is the issue of the number of buses and the state of some of them. Yesterday, there were five cancellations of the 100X expressway, which is the Dundalk to Dublin bus. It is the bus that goes to the airport so it can be imagined how much of a disaster cancellations are for people trying to avoid bringing their car to Dublin and pay the parking fees in the airport. Two such buses were cancelled this morning, the 6.30 a.m. service and the 8.30 a.m. service. People were told at very short notice; I think it went on the website after 7 a.m. Bus Éireann has eight low entry, LE, type buses on this route but they are more than 12 years old. Some of them have more than 1 million km on the clock and are breaking down. There are five buses in the garage at present. NTA public service obligation, PSO, buses are available but Bus Éireann is not able to use them. This is a real issue, especially at this time of year. I ask the Minister to engage so we can get a solution to the problem in the short and long term.
I agree with Deputy O'Sullivan. I will add that it is not just about a driver shortage. We are also short of mechanics. In Cork, there are ten or 12 vacancies in mechanic positions at present. If the bus is not maintained, then it cannot run. Irish passengers value and are attracted to their bus services. Passenger numbers on Bus Éireann PSO services went up by 27% last year. That is a huge increase by any measure. When we introduce BusConnects in Cork, the fleet will increase by 50%. We will need Bus Éireann for a variety of needs. There is the school bus service as well as PSO and commercial services. The Deputy is right that the scale of ambition we have is some 2,000 additional drivers for this switch we will make towards public transport.
One of the first things we need to do is make sure that drivers are properly paid. My understanding is that a benchmark exercise on pay was undertaken, which resulted in improved terms for mechanics in January this year, to ensure that their remuneration is in line. The quota requirement for apprenticeships has also been increased. This is a problem we can overcome. It is part of a wider issue in the economy. The truth is, if you talk to people across many different sectors, it is very hard to get people. It is a real challenge because we are at full employment and demand continues to grow. In those circumstances, it is challenging. We will overcome those challenges in providing the new buses and the better bus corridors so that they really fly, as well as having the drivers and mechanics to operate them.
Could we look at the 100X route?
We will look at that in detail.
