Sick Cert, you've got the whole issue confused here!!! Dublin Commuter's issue is not the Mountjoy-v-Parnell issue, although I didn't realise that there was an early morning problem - as an aside how long has that been going on? This happened before when drivers curtailed the service to Parnell Square and the company never bothered telling passengers as it was a management-v-union issue!! Crazy but true!

Dublin Commuter's problem is that he was standing on O'Connell Street waiting for a 46A for 30 minutes at 8am and no 46A showed up! Some out of service buses passed him, and then apparently commenced in service from D'Olier Street! His issue is that buses that should be starting at the far end of O'Connell Street (be it Parnell or Mountjoy) appear to be starting at D'Olier Street and not servicing the O'Connell Street stop!

What happened to the buses that should have come down O'Connell Street?

Turning to the holding of buses - this does happen elsewhere. It is accepted practice in the industry that if a bus is missing for whatever reason that sometimes the controller/stance inspector will hold a bus to try to bridge the gap in the service. Now this is alright if there are not too many people on the bus being held. However, if the bus being held is already full then it is daft to hold a bus in this way, and it should be let go.

This manifests itself far more obviously because the 46A is regulated on the ground whilst many others are regulated from the garage. The 123 is regulated in this way, and frequently buses from Dublin Airport or Heuston Station are managed like this. However, I've seen examples of a bus being advanced and held by the garage controller to bridge a large gap if a bus is missing.