Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----the response to changes in services that have an impact on rural areas. It is also important to note that the public service obligation, PSO, funding for transport is €210 million per annum and it is important that is allocated for the socially necessary services, in particular in rural areas. The Minister and the Department will continue to work with the NTA on the wider issues concerning rural transport across the country.

Bus Éireann operates three kinds of service - provincial city services, rural stage carriage services and intercity services. Bus Éireann will get a public service obligation of €31.9 million in 2015 under contract with the National Transport Authority for the provincial city and rural carriage services. Bus Éireann receives no State funding for the commercial Expressway intercity services and it must also fund the purchase of buses for Expressway services from within its own resources. As the Deputy is aware, the Expressway services are commercial services operated in competition with private operators on the main trunk routes and motorways. They are licensed by the National Transport Authority. By their very nature, commercial services cannot and do not receive any public service obligation funding from the Exchequer. All of the commercial operators will only provide services where it is commercially advantageous for them to do so. Given the traffic on the main routes between cities, from a commercial perspective, if a bus leaves the motorway to go through the countryside, that will have an impact on the commercial decision that is made in the first place.

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