Heydon calls for Bus Éireann & NTA to come before Joint Oireachtas Transport Committee

Fine Gael Kildare South TD and Chairman of Fine Gael’s Internal Agriculture Committee Martin Heydon, has today (Tuesday) called on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications to bring Bus Éireann and the National Transport Authority (NTA) before them to discuss the changes to Expressway routes announced yesterday.

“This is a very serious issue for many parts of rural Ireland and I think we firstly need to examine the causes of these changes and then look for solutions that can ensure that these parts of rural Ireland are not left without vital bus services.

“I have today (Tuesday) written to the Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, John O’Mahony TD, asking him to invite both Bus Éireann and the NTA before the Committee. I believe the Transport Committee has a valuable role in highlighting and examining the issues that have arisen to get us to this point and in helping to identify possible solutions.

“I have recently been working with local communities in the Castledermot and Kilcullen areas of South Kildare who were already dealing with route reductions by JJ Kavanagh. So I am acutely aware of the impact on communities of the loss of bus services that are relied on by both young and old in the community.  We need to act immediately to seek solutions and alternatives to these changes and I look forward to seeing the Joint Oireachtas Transport Committee take an active role in that process.”