Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation. This is my first day at this committee, so I will not give the delegation too much of a grilling.

My first question is for the CEO of Bus Éireann. Mr. Nolan said that Dublin Bus had received €6 million and Iarnród Éireann had received €30 million. Why was none of the funding put into Bus Éireann when €35 million was saved and a further €20 million would have been saved? Where did the saving come from? He said that its services were largely protected, so what other areas did the saving come from?

Mr. Nolan expressed the sentiment that he wanted to keep the buses full and to expand the routes, but it is important for the company to keep its current number of passengers. I represent and am from a constituency in Meath which has a very good bus service. However, the main street of Ashbourne will be dug up in September and a bus route will be affected. I have spoken with the local chamber of commerce and many community groups. They have informed me that they have tried to get in touch with the organisation seeking to change the route and make it more accessible so that the company and the people of Meath East will not suffer. Perhaps Mr. Nolan could examine the matter and expand on it a bit.

What was the cost of the real time information signs? The CEO said he had noticed a substantial increase in the number of people availing of the bus routes. How did he link the increase to the new signs?

My last question is for Iarnród Éireann. Does it plan to extend the rail link from Dunboyne to Navan? The initiative has been talked about for a long time.