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Dáil
‹ Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation

Idle electric buses

Summary

Mary Lou McDonald condemns the purchase of electric buses that remained unused because charging infrastructure was overlooked; the Taoiseach calls the failure unacceptable but defends broader infrastructure delivery.

How is it that 100 electric buses costing €10 million of taxpayer's money are purchased and then sit idly for up to two and a half years? Why did this happen? It happened because when purchasing said electric buses, it was overlooked that you had to have chargers for the electric buses. We have seen a litany of incompetence from the Taoiseach's Government - the bike shed cost hundreds of thousands, 14 steps in a park in Dublin cost €700,000 and I do not have the scope to describe the fiasco of delay and waste that is the National Children's Hospital. Now, there is this. Is this the most incompetent, wasteful Government in the history of Irish Governments?

Comment on this

Absolutely not. If you take Iarnród Éireann, for example, it has been extremely efficient, on budget and on time with all its rail projects. This is unacceptable. The agencies involved here should not have allowed that to happen. Across the board with public transport, some very significant investments have happened within budget and on time.

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That is not what the question was.

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There are 50 buses in Galway as well.

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I know Deputy McDonald wants to keep attacking the Government, its agencies, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and so on like that-----

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Electric buses.

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-----but a hell of a lot has been done in this country in the last number of years in terms of infrastructure. You know what? An awful lot more will happen as well.

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He sounds like Bertie now. Ominous words.

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