Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to discuss further this issue.

I understand that, similar to the issue raised by Deputies McAuliffe and Devlin, this matter relates to ongoing service delivery issues with bus services provided by Go-Ahead Ireland and the urgent need to address these. The Department has responsibility for policy and overall funding in respect of public transport and is not involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services nationally, including those PSO routes in Dublin currently operated by Go-Ahead Ireland and other operators. It is the NTA that has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally by way of public transport services contracts and for the allocation of associated funding to the relevant transport operators.

The majority of PSO bus services are provided by Dublin Bus or Bus Éireann through what are known as direct award contracts, with the remaining routes being operated by Go-Ahead Ireland. The Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. The recently agreed budget 2023 helps to support this objective and is a further positive development for public transport passengers across the country. We have extended the 20% fare reduction on PSO services so that everyone will benefit until the end of 2023, we have extended the 50% reduction available to young adults on PSO and commercial bus services until the end of 2023, and we are supporting new and enhanced bus and rail services throughout 2023. These are all part of the €563 million funding package to support PSO services. This package is significant in the context of providing accessible and affordable transport options.

Regarding the specific question on ongoing service delivery issues with bus services provided by Go-Ahead Ireland and the urgent need to address these issues, the NTA has advised that it is closely monitoring the performance of all public transport operators as part of the contractual arrangements in place between it and the operators. The service reliability issues being experienced by Go-Ahead are not unique to that operator, with many operators in the public transport sector facing similar staffing challenges as a result of Covid-19 absences and the recruitment of new drivers. However, while these staffing issues are being experienced across the public transport system, it is also true that Go-Ahead is particularly impacted by them and is experiencing higher-than-normal levels of Covid-19-related staff absences. These absences are having a knock-on negative impact on the delivery of services, with a number of services not operating as scheduled.

The NTA is engaging extensively with Go-Ahead on this issue. Go-Ahead has told the NTA that it will have the full complement of drivers in place by December.

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