Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in respect of public transport. I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The operation of bus services is a matter for the transport operators with oversight by the NTA.

Route 735, the bus service to which the Deputy refers, is a commercial service which operates between Dublin Airport, Dublin city and Limerick and is licensed by the NTA. Licences set out the nature of the service and conditions under which a licensed public bus passenger service must operate, such as the point of origin and destination, as well as a detailed timetable and stopping places. By their nature, commercial services cannot and do not receive any PSO funding from the Exchequer. All commercial bus operators will only provide services where it is commercially advantageous for them to do so and are free to pull out or curtail their services. Where operators pull out or curtail commercial bus services, the NTA will grant such amendments as it has no legislative powers to refuse.

Under the terms of the new licence, the private company, JJ Kavanagh & Sons, will only serve Portlaoise, Roscrea and Nenagh from April 16. It will no longer serve Borris-in-Ossory, Mountrath, Castletown or the Pike of Rushall in County Laois. I understand that the NTA has arranged a briefing on this issue with Deputies from Limerick, Laois, Offaly and Tipperary at 12.30 p.m. on Thursday in Leinster House. I am sure the Deputy will be there as I am sure he was instrumental in arranging it. I will not anticipate what will happen at the meeting but presumably it is being held to be constructive.

In circumstances where commercial operators withdraw or curtail services, the authority examines whether, in the absence of any commercial services, a PSO exists to provide socially necessary but commercially unviable public transport services. Such examination includes an assessment of the demand for public transport services and options to either reconfigure existing PSO services or to competitively tender for the provision of services. In either event, the NTA's ability to provide such services is subject to the availability of funding, which, as the Deputy noted, is not an issue in this case. To that end, the NTA is already engaging with Bus Éireann, Local Link in Tipperary and Local Link in Laois with a view to providing solutions for bus customers at local level, both in the short term and the long term. Timetables of services are currently being drawn up with the aim of not only meeting the social need but also improving levels of service to a wider area.

The Government is acutely aware of concerns about the proposed withdrawal of certain commercial services in rural areas. The reality is that commercial operators are continuing to take advantage of the major improvements to the national roads network in order to offer improved journey times between Dublin and regional cities by providing more direct services with fewer intermediate stops. The NTA has a key role to play in assessing, within available funding, the appropriate response to changes in services that have an impact in rural areas. The NTA has contracted for the provision of bus services for commercially unviable but socially necessary services in rural areas. As a general principle, PSO funding for all public transport should be allocated to ensure that socially necessary services, particularly in rural areas, are provided to the greatest extent possible.

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