Fingal County Council failed to use available NTA funds to improve bus stops

Fingal County Council didn’t draw down any of the money allocated to it by the National Transport Authority (NTA) to improve its bus stops last year.

The NTA had set aside €500,000 for each local authority across the country to use in 2024 under its Bus Stop Enhancement Programme.

But the council’s operations department didn’t use any of this grant, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday evening.

Councillors said they were surprised to hear the grant was available for this in the first place, given how officials had never mentioned it during the regular debates over motions calling for better bus stops.

In December, independent Councillor Tony Murphy had put forward a motion asking for the chief executive AnnMarie Farrelly to the NTA to provide shelters at all of its bus stops, but particularly those in rural areas.

But he was told at the time by Mary Egan, Fingal’s director of people, corporate and digital services that, if agreed by councillors, the request would be forwarded to the NTA.

Had he known that there was this enhancement scheme, the ensuing debate would have been very different, he said.

“I would be of the opinion that the members would have pushed hard for Fingal County Council to engage in a process that would have delivered shelters,” he said. “Rather than pushing it back to the NTA.”

An opportunity for upgrades

The NTA told Fingal County Council officials that they had €500,000 to spend under the Bus Stop Enhancement Programme, in a letter in February 2024.

This specific project was intended to allow the upgrade of bus stops across the county, wrote Joe Seymour, the NTA’s head of active travel investments. That included installing poles and hard standing areas, as well as bus shelters, Seymour wrote.

But before construction could start, the council and the NTA would need to agree a programme of bus stops and associated works, he said.

“In agreed locations, the NTA’s contractors will continue to install bus shelters subject to the advance of completion of the necessary groundworks,” he wrote.

All of the funding for the upgrades would be done on the basis that the council submitted a funding request based on a planned programme of works, according to NTA guidelines.

On 20 June, Eoin Gilliard, the NTA’s assistant director for transport investment, wrote to council officials to give more details of the scheme, and invite them to a meeting.

He also shared statistics. Fingal had a total of 1,067 designated bus stops, 388 of which had hard standing areas, while only 190 had bus shelters. Also, 449 were outfitted with Transport for Ireland bus poles, he said.

Council officials met with the NTA on 16 July, records show.

According to the NTA’s guidelines, shown at that meeting, the local authority would need to submit a database and spreadsheet to it, outlining the priority of works, as well as estimates on funding requirements for 2024 through to 2027, by 1 September.

But on 23 July, Mary T. Daly, the council’s director of operations, wrote to the NTA to say that wasn’t possible.

Fingal’s Operations wouldn’t be able to complete an inventory on its bus stops before a target date of 1 September, “due to existing workloads and planned work programmes”, she wrote.

On Tuesday evening, a council spokesperson said that the council’s Operations department hadn’t drawn down any monies as part of the enhancement programme for 2024.

Operations also had not carried out inspections on the list of bus stops within the council area, they said.

What half a million?

At two of the past three monthly council meetings, councillors have tabled motions asking to improve Fingal’s bus shelters.

Inadequate infrastructure at bus stops was affecting a lot of people, particularly those living in the more rural areas, said Murphy, the independent councillor, on 5 December at its monthly meeting.

Mary Egan, director of people, corporate and digital services, told him that if the council agreed on his motion, it would be referred to the NTA.

On 13 January, Labour Councillor James Humphreys asked the council for a report on whether it would be viable for the council to install bus shelters, rather than waiting on the NTA.

He was told by Mary T. Daly that this was outside the council’s remit.

There wasn’t a mention of the enhancement scheme in the report nor was this brought to the attention of councillors, said Green Party Councillor David Healy, who also spoke during that debate, on Tuesday.

“Maybe I missed it, but what I was struck by, on foot of the motion, was the report saying this is the NTA’s problem,” he said.

Healy wasn’t the only councillor caught off guard by the existence of this €500,000 grant.

Said Murphy: “I’m disappointed the local authorities felt it not relevant to the motion and it’s extremely unhelpful when you are not afforded all the information.”