Taoiseach pledges Government will back effort to hire more bus drivers for Cork

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that the Government will support the National Transport Authority (NTA) in hiring additional drivers to deliver the BusConnects project in Cork.

Mr Martin told The Echo that the department, to the best of his knowledge, has already begun recruitment efforts abroad.

“There has been a lot of engagement and community consultation in terms of BusConnects [in Cork],” he said. “My understanding is that progress has been made in recruiting drivers from overseas and we’re very supportive of that.

The NTA has commenced issuing letters to homeowners whose property may be potentially impacted by the project. Regarding this process, Mr Martin said: “I would have been a critic in terms of how this was gone about from day one, because we have to understand the sensitivity of people, and their sense of security in their own homes and so forth.

Engaged

“For the last two years I have been working with the NTA, and they have engaged with me and my office on BusConnects. We’ve made a lot of compromises on it, and secured a lot of concessions on what was originally planned.

“In my view, simpler things can be done, and they need to be done more quickly, but I think we have to engage with neighbourhoods and with people [on this].”

As previously reported by The Echo in 2023, a spokesperson for Bus Éireann, who is heading the recruitment campaign, said that the organisation requires 80 drivers to deliver the first phase of the project in Cork, which has a current target launch date of early 2026.

Recruitment campaign 

However, Bus Éireann has declined to provide an updated figure on the amount of drivers needed, stating instead that their intensive recruitment campaign has seen a “strong response”.

“We are increasing our recruitment campaigns in 2025 to ensure [that] we are in a position to deliver BusConnects to the people of Cork city,” the spokesperson said.

“This includes the introduction of monthly open mornings at our Capwell department. We encourage anyone who has an interest in becoming a bus driver and wants to find out more about the career to attend our open days.”

Additionally, a spokesperson for the NTA said that the new bus network for Cork will be implemented on a phased basis from the beginning of next year, “subject to funding and operational readiness”.

New bus routes

The new network will involve the creation of new bus routes and improved bus frequencies to help transform the public transport network to meet anticipated growth and future demand.

As well as the new network, the NTA is working on proposals for the development of 11 Sustainable Transport Corridors as part of the BusConnects Cork programme.

These corridors will be situated along key bus routes in the city and will have dedicated bus lanes and bus priority, with improved cycling and pedestrian facilities.

It is anticipated that applications for the proposed schemes will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála for its consideration and decision on a phased basis beginning in mid-2025.