The CEO of Limerick Chamber, Michelle Gallagher, today expressed significant concern regarding the current rollout of the BusConnects programme in Limerick, citing major implications for both employees and businesses across the city and region if initial rollout of the plan is delayed past 2025.
Speaking on behalf of the business community, Mrs. Gallagher emphasised the critical importance of expanding and improving public transport infrastructure to support a growing workforce and to ensure Limerick’s continued economic development.
“The region has reached almost 279,000 people in employment, a regional record, yet despite this continued growth there is continued failure to adequately address the infrastructure gap within an appropriate timeframe. Efficient, reliable, and accessible public transport is not a luxury – it is a necessity for advancing enterprise and access to work,” said Mrs. Gallagher. “Increased bus routes and enhanced service frequency are essential to ensuring that our employees can get to work safely and on time, and that businesses can thrive in a connected and sustainable urban environment. The recent reports of the delay in rollout of BusConnects is most concerning and the impact will be felt throughout scaling and existing businesses”
The Chamber has continued to voice particular concern about the exclusion of Annacotty Business Park from the current BusConnects plan. Home to a significant concentration of employers and rapidly growing indigenous enterprises, the business park is a critical employment hub in the region. Its omission from the proposed routes poses a substantial threat to workforce accessibility and business continuity.
“Annacotty Business Park is not peripheral – it is central to Limerick’s commercial ecosystem,” Mrs. Gallagher continued. “Its exclusion from the BusConnects plan risks undermining the very objective of the programme, which is to enhance access and mobility for all. We have undertaken numerous surveys with employees of the park our findings outline huge support for a bus route with 97% of respondents supporting increased public transport to their place of work”
Limerick Chamber is calling on the National Transport Authority and relevant stakeholders to urgently prioritise delivery in Limerick.
“Limerick’s public transport future cannot be left in a holding pattern,” said Mrs. Gallagher. “We need swift, decisive action to ensure that BusConnects delivers for all areas of the city – not just a select few. Delays and oversights will cost us – in lost productivity, talent retention challenges, and diminished regional competitiveness.”
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