Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No, Dublin Coach. It is a private operator. It is discontinuing the routes as a result of the 20% public transport fare reduction. They are not public service obligation, PSO, routes. I very much welcome that 50% reduction for students that will come on stream across all operators, public and private, in August. Will the Minister consider extending the 20% fare reduction to private operators, possibly just on specific routes, such as commuter routes? The NTA anticipated this issue and made a submission to the Department for €2 million to €3 million to deal with routes from which private operators will withdraw because they are no longer competitive, given the 20% reduction for PSO routes running nearby. This is an unintended consequence of the 20% fare reduction. Will the Minister consider extending the reduction to all operators, even just on specific routes? Will he give support to the NTA in terms of the €2 million or €3 million it is seeking to deal with the fallout where private operators are discontinuing routes? I have met with the NTA. It is currently considering putting services into the areas to which I have referred. Castletroy College Road, which is a highly populated area, Groody Road and Ballysimon will not have any bus service when these routes are gone. There is commonality between Bus Éireann and Dublin Coach in terms of routes serving UL. Is the Minister aware of this issue? Will he consider it?

Will he give support to the private operators with regard to the 20% reduction and to the National Transport Authority, NTA, in respect of the €2 million or €3 million it is seeking to deal with that fallout? It wishes to introduce bus services in the areas that will no longer have any when the 307 and 308 services cease next Friday within the next two or three weeks.