Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As Deputies will know, the land transport programme is by far the largest programme in the Department's Vote. It represents 80% of my overall budget, a large proportion of which is capital investment. The main components of the programme are road improvements and maintenance funding, for which there is an overall budget of over €780 million. For the public transport investment programme there is an allocation of €355 million, while public service provision payments have increased to almost €280 million this year. The programme also includes a new provision, of €2.5 million, for a targeted carbon reduction programme. This year we will see the completion of the Luas cross-city project which will be a fantastic addition to the public transport system in the capital city. We can expect to see the first trams operating on the line before the end of 2017. There is also funding for over 180 new buses - 110 for the Dublin region fleet and over 70 for the Bus Éireann fleet. There is also funding for essential planning and design work on some of the important but longer term projects such as metro north and the DART expansion programme. I am pleased that this year I was able to increase by 11% the amount of money available to fund PSO and rural transport programmes compared to the amount allocated last year. The increase will help to provide new and improved services across both programmes.