Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am very much aware of the importance of this matter and of the concern felt by many about the withdrawal, or threat of withdrawal, of bus services from their towns and villages. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, and I met last evening with residents from some of the towns affected by these changes.

At a national level, the National Transport Authority, NTA, has responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger land transport services. This includes the provision of subvented bus and rail services by Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. The NTA also licenses commercial bus passenger services. Under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, the NTA assumed responsibility for the regulation of commercial bus passenger services. The Act obliges all operators to be licensed if they are providing public bus passenger services, and it is applied equally to both private and State companies. Public service obligation services covered by public service contracts do not fall within the licensing system.

Commercial bus services are licensed in accordance with the provisions of the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009 and in line with the NTA's published guidelines for the licensing of public bus passenger services. The guidelines are published on the NTA's website. The guidelines were prepared in accordance with the detailed provisions set out in section 23 of the 2009 Act. Where operators apply to withdraw or curtail commercial bus services, the NTA will grant such amendments as it has no legislative powers to refuse them. In such circumstances, the NTA may examine whether, in the absence of any commercial services, a public service obligation exists to provide socially necessary, but commercially unviable, public transport services. Such examination will include an assessment of the demand for public transport services and options either to reconfigure existing PSO services or to tender competitively for the provision of services. In either event, the NTA's ability to provide such services is subject to the availability of funding.

I need not remind the Deputy of the huge pressure on public finances that our Government inherited. Despite this, with our economy now recovering, I was able to secure an additional €101 million in funding for our public transport companies in a Supplementary Estimate at the end of last year. I was also able to maintain the level of PSO funding in 2015, as was provided in 2014. This is the first time there has not been a cut in PSO funding since the economy collapsed.

I am acutely aware of the concerns of many people regarding recent decisions to withdraw services to a number of intermediate locations on major routes into Dublin. Major improvements to the national roads network, including the M9 motorway, have provided the opportunity for commercial bus operators to offer improved journey times between Dublin and the regional cities in particular. Bus Éireann and other commercial bus operators have sought to amend their licences accordingly, with the consequent effect of reducing the level of service provided to a number of intermediate locations in the network. The NTA has indicated it will examine options either to reconfigure existing PSO services or to tender competitively for the provision of services to those areas affected by the changes. It must be recognised, however, that any such initiatives that involve additional PSO services would require a further increase in available funding.

It should also be noted that the 2009 Act provides that the NTA must undertake a review of the operation of the licensing of public bus passenger services within five years. I understand that the NTA intends to engage in a public consultation this year on this issue, and I will examine carefully any proposed changes to the licensing regime arising from that review. I assure the Deputy that I will also be examining this very issue in the coming weeks.

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