Loughrea evening bus service
Deputy Cannon argued that Loughrea’s last bus from Galway city at 6.30 p.m. leaves workers and students without a viable service. The Minister thanked him for recognising transport investment and said he would ask the Minister for Transport to respond directly.
Our Government is doing wonderful work in rolling out public transport options, both in urban and rural settings: the Bus Connects scheme in urban areas and Connecting Ireland in rural areas. However, there is a major inequity that needs to be addressed. Let us take, for example, the town of Loughrea in County Galway. It has a population approaching 6,000 people. Its only public transport link to Galway city is a bus service, and the last bus leaves Galway city for Loughrea at 6.30 p.m. each evening. It cannot serve the needs of nurses, shift workers, students or people simply wanting to socialise in their local city. I ask the Minister to engage with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the NTA to expedite the delivery of additional services for Loughrea, which is just a 30-minute drive from the city. If you live in Dublin city centre and you want to take a 30-minute trip out to Swords for example, there are 18 additional buses after 6.30 p.m. in the evening. Loughrea has no options, and this inequity needs to be addressed.
Comment on this
I thank Deputy Cannon for recognising the increased investment in public transport the Government has made over the past nearly three years. Regarding the specific matter he raises, there is no question that it is an issue that needs to be looked at when for people living in Loughrea, a half an hour away from the city, the bus services ceases at 6.30 p.m. I will speak directly to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and ask him to correspond with Deputy Cannon directly on the matter.