Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he will note from our encounters here and at the Oireachtas joint committee, the responses I have been making on this matter have been consistent and fairly clear. The company is losing money and those losses must be addressed. The losses arise primarily as a result of the poor performance of its commercial Expressway services, services which do not, and indeed cannot, receive any taxpayer funding.

I have been equally clear in my calls for discussions to commence immediately between the two relevant parties, as I have done today in my answers to two other questions on the same subject. As I clarified to the Deputy last week, those discussions should commence on the basis of no preconditions from both sides, and if uncertainty exists as regards that basis, I urge both parties to clarify their positions.

On the issue of the subsidisation of public transport, the Deputy is aware that subsidies are only provided for socially necessary but financially unviable services and are not available for commercial services. I am committed towards increasing the level of taxpayer funding for public transport services as budgetary resources allow. That commitment is evidenced by the 11% increase secured in budget 2017, and I will be seeking to increase taxpayer funding of public transport services further in budget 2018.

Bus Éireann operates approximately 230 of these socially necessary but financially unviable services. These services operate in every county in the State, and last year around 32 million people travelled on such a service. I also note that in 2016, Bus Éireann received €40.8 million for the provision of those services, which represented a 21% increase when compared with 2015.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

However, any increase in funding provided must demonstrate to the taxpayer the value for money achieved and, in that regard, the National Transport Authority has an important role to play in its monitoring and enforcement of service levels and quality under the public services contracts entered into with operators.

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