Thomas O'Connor

These are diesel engines.

We're in the middle of a climate emergency and we're trying to bring these buses in.

to reduce carbon emissions, and yet these diesel polluters... And these new buses, they're not in the depots, are they?

No, they're up in Ballymena, they're up in Wright Bus, up in Ballymena.

The article this morning went some way.

I believe there's a framework agreement for the procurement of contractors to install it.

One would have thought from a corporate governance point of view that when the NTA board decided to buy 600 buses, they would have put a framework agreement back in then.

The planning issue, like when they first went to the Summerhill in Fisbrook, there was delays and there was delays from a planning perspective in Fisbrook because of a stone wall and the substation or the charging infrastructure didn't respect the heritage of a stone wall.

That's ridiculous to me.

We're talking about public transport.

We're talking about the common good.

If it comes down to offending a few people with hang-ups about historical matters or the common good, the eyes have it.

The common good wins every time.

They do.

Like, I mean, from your own health, from, like, a driver's seat with a million kilometres on it, it's not going to be the same as a brand new bus.

When I went, when the inspector gave me a run aboard a bus in the morning, I always wanted a new bus, you know.

It was just, you know, because... Well, your day was going to be better, wasn't it?

It was, yeah.

You know, top spec.

a new bus rather than getting something that's been on the road for over two decades.