Council seeks answers from transport bodies over inadequate Cork bus services

The chief executive of Cork County Council has said she will seek a meeting with senior representatives of Bus Éireann and the National Transport Authority (NTA) following a plethora of complaints from councillors about inadequate public transport services across the county.

The issue was raised by Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Donovan, who kicked off a debate when he highlighted poor bus services in Carrigaline and Crosshaven.

He said buses serving Crosshaven very often fail to arrive at all.

Mr Donovan said it is totally unacceptable that key towns and villages are suffering with congestion, saying that if extra buses were added, it could help to tackle this issue.

East Cork-based Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Mulcahy said concerns about inadequate services had been repeatedly raised by elected members, while repeated requests for NTA officials to attend council meetings had gone unanswered. 

He claimed commuters making the 50km trip from Youghal to Cork city can now face journey times of almost two hours during peak morning periods, adding that improved bus services could help reduce the number of cars on the road.

Not enough spaces on buses

Mr Mulcahy also said students in Midleton are regularly being left behind because there are not enough spaces on the buses provided.

Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty said some parts of East Cork still had no public transport service at all, while others were poorly served.

Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden said many parts of North Cork are not serviced at all. “The whole thing needs to be reviewed,” he said.

Social Democrats councillor Ann Bambury said unreliable public bus services were causing frustration for commuters in West Cork.

“The NTA is supposed to monitor punctuality. I wonder have they ever penalised Bus Éireann?”  

Fianna Fáil councillor Sheila O’Callaghan said that while Upper Glanmire has a bus stop, it does not have a bus service.

“We were guaranteed twice in 2025 that the service was coming, but it hasn’t,” she said, adding that services to Glenville and Carrignavar were also poor.

Lack of investment

Cobh-based Fine Gael councillor Sinéad Sheppard said that rapid housing growth was not being matched by investment in public transport.

“We’re building houses everywhere and not doing enough to support people in towns and villages with no proper bus services,” she said. 

“I find engagement with NTA shocking. They’re bad at replying to emails and phonecalls. I’m constantly getting no response.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Ann Marie Ahern said she emails the NTA on issues every six months and also does not get any replies.

Social Democrats councillor Eamonn Horgan said: “Better public transport is the only way to reduce traffic on our congested roads.”

Council chief executive Moira Murrell said she had recently met the board of Bus Éireann during members’ visit to Cork and had raised issues including service reliability and population growth.