2026-06-18

117. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Transport the number of electric buses currently in storage; the total cost of their storage and maintenance over the past three years; the projected cost of continued storage and maintenance until deployment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46183/26]

The public accounts committee has, after protracted correspondence, finally got to the bottom of where we might be in terms of the cost of storage of 384 buses over the last four years, with 98 electric buses still in storage. These are much-needed buses that should be servicing our community. Will the Minister of State specifically tell us the cost of those electric buses, and also the projected cost, given that we are still counting for the 98 buses still in storage?

Delays in the entry into service of new buses are very much regrettable. However, I must emphasise that the storing of buses while we deploy charging infrastructure is preferable to deferring their purchase in the first place until we have a charger available for every bus. If an alternative approach had been adopted where buses were only purchased after charging infrastructure was installed to ensure no delay in fleet absorption, the cost of purchasing fleet would have significantly escalated in recent years due to inflation. As an example, if electric bus purchases were deferred by one year from their actual order placement dates, the additional purchase cost of the buses would have been approximately €12 million, compared to around €7 million in costs that have actually been incurred as a result of bus storage. As of today, over 250 battery electric buses have been accepted into the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann fleets across the country, including the operation of our first fully electric services in Limerick and Athlone. Ninety-eight battery electric buses are currently awaiting deployment pending the installation of charging infrastructure. The 56 buses to be deployed in the greater Dublin area are planned to enter service later this year. The 42 remaining buses for use in Galway are all planned to enter into operation late this year and early 2027. There can be a 12-to-48-month timeline when ordering a new electric bus, while installing charging infrastructure typically requires securing planning approval and subsequent procurement of charger supplier and installation. Achieving full alignment between the delivery of the new electric bus fleet and the charger installations is challenging. The delay is regrettable, as the Deputy said. To help address the mismatched timelines of charging capacity and fleet delivery in future, the NTA plans to award a new national electric bus charging infrastructure framework later this month. This framework, from which suppliers can be accessed for depot electrification projects anywhere in the country in the future, will replace the fragmented, project-by-project procurement approach to date. I hope that gives the Deputy some answers to her question.

If hundreds of electric, zero-emission buses sitting in storage represents value for money, I would like the Department to publish a full cost-benefit analysis, the opportunity cost and the opportunity lost. Will the Minister of State please confirm that the Department will do that?

I will have the Department communicate with Deputy Boland. I take the point she makes and it is a very fair point. The overarching point is we must be conscious of spending public money and I take her point on both.

While we are waiting, I welcome a group from Scoil Íosagáin, Coolgreany, who are guests of Deputy Ó Súilleabháin, to the Public Gallery. I hope they enjoy this morning's proceedings.