Department of Transport

1. “Bus Service 360 and 360A between Tramore and Waterford City: a. relating to the adherence to published timetables and timetabled buses that are cancelled, b. relating to the reliability of information displayed at the Tramore Bus Station and c. relating to any audits of the accuracy of the data displayed, and presumably recorded and monitored, by the on-board public display systems. 2. Maintenance of accessibility features generally at Bus & Rail Stations and in particular any records relation to a. The accessible ramp doors at Waterford Bus Station which were observed to be out of order on many days between October 2023 and April 2024 and presumably were continuously out of order for extended periods, and b. Maintenance of access pathways throughout the services operated by the CIE group, and particularly any reports, at any time since January 2023, concerning the pathway photographed at Ennis Bus & Train station on 22 November 2023 which was intended to be used by disabled persons and wheelchairs. 3. The duties and responsibilities of local management which would be intended to address the following types of issues: a. Daily and hopefully more frequent inspection of toilets to ensure that a situation observed and photographed at Limerick on 22 November cannot recur without senior management intervention. The image below was taken in the temporary facility at Limerick and the urinal displayed evidence of flora or fauna that had developed over several days. b. It might be argued that contractors had a duty to maintain the toilet. If so, please provide copies of the relevant contract and copies of the managerial oversight requirements in relation to the fulfilment of the contract. c. On the same day there were temporary food service arrangements in place. However, all the rubbish bins were congregated at the further possible distance from the food service area. Please let me have copies of the job specification of the local management insofar as they relate to visually inspecting that reasonable arrangements are in place to generally inhibit ‘laissez faire’ arrangements by careless staff and/or contractors. Photos are available if required to illustrate the situation. d. Management at Limerick may not be able to observe whether the ticket office opens at the time advertised at that office. In fact, it sometimes opens late even when a staff member is inside the office. Please let me have a copy of any guidelines to management and staff on the monitoring of adherence to service levels advertised. 4. CIE and its subsidiaries outsource vending services that do not always function well. Please let me have copies of the arrangements in place to monitor the services permitted by vending operators and to assist members of the public when the providers fail to meet the standards set. In addition, let me have copy, or if preferred an abstract, of any report relating to difficulties encountered by your customers attempting to use the vending machine at Ennis on 22 November 2023 at about 14:44. Please provide a copy of any document detailing the arrangements are in place to recoup CIE group customers whose money is lost in failed transactions ? 5. Lest it might be imagined that the unique ineffective managerial roles are confined to Ennis and Limerick, Waterford Bus Station publishing a notice on 5 December 2023 concerning one cancellation of Bus 355 and leaving it on display for more than two months indicates a nationwide, dismaying consistency in a careless and slovenly local management culture. The attached image was taken on 7 January 2024. Please let me have copies of any instructions concerning daily, weekly and monthly inspections that local management are supposed to undertake, that, if complied with, would have prevented an advertisement of one instance of failure to remain proudly on display on a poster extoling the quality of the service provided for over 40 years. 6. Instructions to the staff and managers that assess and review the service quality provided by the CIE Group, including the inspections carried out by and for the NTA and the methods used by the Department to satisfy the Department, and the Minister, that reports on service quality are meaningful, comprehensive and effective. 7. Copies of the most internal audit and C&AG reports on the relevance and accuracy of quality reviews conducted by CIE Group, NTA and the Department. 8. Copies of the most recent instructions issued by the Minister on adherence to service quality standards insofar as they relate to: a. Timekeeping of buses, b. Cleanliness at stations, c. Accessibility issues.”