Transport company Go-Ahead Ireland, which operates 30 bus routes in and around Dublin, will apologise to customers for recent service problems when its executives address the Oireachtas Committee on Transport later today.
In an opening statement to TDs and Senators, seen by RTÉ News, the company's Managing Director Andrew Edwards will say that "we acknowledge there have been issues affecting our services. We apologise to customers who have been negatively affected".
A major cause of the problems, according to Mr. Edwards, is "personnel shortages," and he adds that "the past two years have been incredibly hard for the transport sector."
He said, "Over the past several months, our attempts to get drivers on the road have been impeded by an inevitable external backlog in obtaining necessary papers for commercial drivers."
The Go-Ahead Ireland MD continues, "This happened at a time of growing service demands with schools and colleges returning." The "cyber security issue" in September "impacted IT systems in the company's bus businesses, including software used to schedule drivers and services."
Go-Ahead Ireland is resolving the issues, according to Mr. Edwards' statement, and has hired 150 drivers over the previous six months, with an additional 100 drivers "awaiting vital documents."
With the help of the Road Transport Authority, some of the backlog of documentation has been cleared, which is "speeding-up aspects of our recruitment effort."
It should be emphasised that Go-Ahead Ireland continuously met the service standards under our negotiated contractual agreements prior to 2020 and during the pandemic, Mr. Edwards said.
He claims that although they "completely accept" the service challenges that have arisen in "recent months," the business is "totally committed" to resolving them as soon as possible.
