Paul Murphy slams Go Ahead failures, urges NTA to restore Dublin Bus
Paul Murphy criticised the outsourcing of Dublin bus routes to Go Ahead, citing widespread no‑show and "ghost" buses and urging the NTA to return routes to Dublin Bus. He identified unreliable routes and local areas affected and called privatisation a disaster for workers, commuters and the environment.
Workers and students in Talla, Knocklion and Rathfarnham have been hit by unreliable services, the speaker said, with buses not appearing for hours. The S6, the S8 and the S4, all operated by Go Ahead, were singled out as totally unreliable and commuters reported repeatedly needing taxis because they could not rely on public transport.
Paul Murphy noted that Go Ahead had been awarded another contract, the so‑called ODMA, a series of routes worth 50 million euros, despite the service failures. He argued Go Ahead cannot recruit mechanics to fix buses because it pays them less than Dublin Bus, contributing to breakdowns and cancelled services. The minister acknowledged wider recruitment challenges, saying services in Cork City were cancelled due to an inability to recruit bus drivers and that recruitment for Bus Airden and Air North Airden has been difficult.
The speaker asked for the National Transport Authority to be instructed to return routes to Dublin Bus, framing privatisation as harmful to workers, commuters and the environment. He argued that lower pay for mechanics and outsourcing decisions have worsened reliability for daily travellers.
In reply, the minister said the Government has overseen an expansion of public transport services, including bus and rail, and stressed ongoing recruitment and growth measures. The minister maintained there is additionality in service numbers and expressed intent to continue expanding public services.
Service failures and commuter impact
Workers and students in Talla, Knocklion and Rathfarnham have been hit by unreliable services, the speaker said, with buses not appearing for hours. The S6, the S8 and the S4, all operated by Go Ahead, were singled out as totally unreliable and commuters reported repeatedly needing taxis because they could not rely on public transport.
Contract award and recruitment problems
Paul Murphy noted that Go Ahead had been awarded another contract, the so‑called ODMA, a series of routes worth 50 million euros, despite the service failures. He argued Go Ahead cannot recruit mechanics to fix buses because it pays them less than Dublin Bus, contributing to breakdowns and cancelled services. The minister acknowledged wider recruitment challenges, saying services in Cork City were cancelled due to an inability to recruit bus drivers and that recruitment for Bus Airden and Air North Airden has been difficult.
Demand to reverse privatisation and return routes to Dublin Bus
The speaker asked for the National Transport Authority to be instructed to return routes to Dublin Bus, framing privatisation as harmful to workers, commuters and the environment. He argued that lower pay for mechanics and outsourcing decisions have worsened reliability for daily travellers.
Government response on service expansion
In reply, the minister said the Government has overseen an expansion of public transport services, including bus and rail, and stressed ongoing recruitment and growth measures. The minister maintained there is additionality in service numbers and expressed intent to continue expanding public services.
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Transcript
The Dublin City Centre Task Force recommends improving public transport by implementing the City Centre Transport Plan. I want to ask you how on earth you think it is compatible with outsourcing more and more routes to private companies like Go Ahead, which has been an absolute disaster for commuters. Workers and students in Talla, in Knocklion, in Rathfarnham have had their lives turned upside down by the amount of no-show buses and ghost buses run by Go Ahead. The S6, the S8 and the S4, all run by Go Ahead, are totally unreliable. I have talked to countless people over the last couple of weeks who said they have had to get taxis multiple times to work, they no longer can take public transport to work because they don't know that it will arrive on time, they are waiting on the buses, it doesn't show for a couple of hours because various buses simply don't appear. And yet Go Ahead has been rewarded by winning another contract, the so-called ODMA, a series of different routes worth 50 million euros. And the bottom line issue is Go Ahead cannot recruit the mechanics to fix the buses because they make profits by paying the mechanics less than Dublin Bus pays them. Privatisation is a disaster for workers and for commuters and for our environment. Will you instruct the NTA to return the bus routes to Dublin Bus? In terms of the, we are expanding public service transport, we are increasing the numbers recruited to Bus Airden and to Air North Airden. They've had difficulty in recruiting as well. So we had to cancel services in Cork City because of an inability to recruit bus drivers because of the growth and expansion and a full economy. But be very clear that we stand and have presided over an expansion of public services, both rail and bus, in transport with additionality in terms of numbers and so on. And we will continue to do that.