Nearly €7 Million Spent Storing 98 Undelivered Electric Buses Due to Charger Delays
Sinn Féin TD John Brady criticized the €7 million spent on storing 98 undelivered electric buses due to charging infrastructure delays. The NTA defended the parallel procurement, stating it was a lower-cost option despite storage expenses. This highlights significant planning and project management failures in electric public transport rollout.
The Chair of the Public Account Committee (PAC), Sinn Féin TD John Brady, has called the nearly €7 million spent on storing and servicing electric buses an «absolute scandal». This expenditure is due to delays in installing charging infrastructure, leaving 98 buses undelivered.
Brady criticized the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority (NTA) for failing to plan properly. Correspondence between PAC and the NTA revealed that 98 buses remain in storage, costing taxpayers almost €20,000 weekly, with an additional €520,000 in storage costs anticipated before deployment.
The NTA stated that while procurement and planning delays prevented immediate deployment, ordering buses in parallel with charger development was a lower-cost option than delaying bus purchases by up to two years. The total cost for storage and servicing of 384 electric buses over four years is €6,962,227, with €2,349,892 for storage sites and insurance. The NTA noted that aligning bus delivery with charger installation is challenging due to complex requirements like grid connections, planning consent, and civil engineering works, a common international experience.