Scott questions lack of action on bus shelters

New figures provided to Green Party Leader Roderic O’Gorman show that fourteen counties failed to build any bus shelters last year, including Co Wicklow.

Greystones Councillor Lourda Scott has repeatedly requested information from Wicklow County Council regarding bus shelter construction. Recent figures provided to Deputy O’Gorman through a parliamentary question shows that only seventeen bus shelters were built in Wicklow since 2018, with none at all completed in 2024 and 2025.

New figures provided now show that that collapse is nationwide.

Deputy O’Gorman says: 

“There has been a complete collapse in the number of bus shelters built nationwide between 2024 and 2025. It’s like the Government has forgotten that, with our weather, people who use the bus need to be protected from the elements.” 

The information was contained in a reply to a question put to the Department of Transport following repeated requests by Green Party Councillor Oisin O’Connor to the NTA to provide bus shelters at busy stops where there was space to build them.

Green Party Councillor and Greystones Cathaoirleach Lourda Scott highlighted the regional impact of these figures:

“We’ve seen the shocking prices at the petrol pumps in recent days. People want to have the choice of public transport that is affordable and reliable. Hand in hand with that is providing proper infrastructure. The volume of rain we’ve had since the beginning of 2026 has caused great difficulty for people trying to commute to and from work. Not having proper shelters while people wait for a bus is simply unacceptable. I’ve seen school children waiting at a bus stop near me getting drenched as there is no shelter. That bus stop services 3 schools. What’s more frustrating is that Wicklow County Council were allocated €500,000 from the NTA for Bus Shelter construction in 2025, yet none of that money was spent. They have received the same allocation for 2026. I am asking the Minister for Transport to intervene and ensure that Local  and the National Transport Authority are adequately resourced to address this problem as soon as possible.”