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

I am taking this motion on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I thank Deputies for the opportunity to speak to the House about the importance of accessible, affordable and reliable public transport. I am confident we can all agree it is essential that the Government continue to invest in our public transport network and that we are supportive of the Government’s commitment to delivering an accessible, affordable and reliable public transport network throughout the country. While the Government will not oppose the motion and its overall objective is broadly in line with the principles of the Government, it contains some issues that require clarification and they will be highlighted in the ministerial contributions.

It is a key Government objective to provide all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options and public transport plays a key role in delivering that. To support this objective, in budget 2022, the Department of Transport secured €538 million in funding for public service obligation, PSO, and Local Link services provided by State operators and under contract by the NTA this year. More recently, €563 million has been secured as part of the budget 2023 negotiations for the continuation of these services. To incentivise young people to use public transport, the Minister for Transport secured funding for the introduction of a young adult card, which allows anyone nationwide between the ages of 19 and 23 to avail of a 50% discount on all PSO services and since September, also on participating commercial services. This initiative was recently widened to allow 16- to 18-year-old third level students to apply for the student Leap card in order that they too can avail of the discount. Furthermore, to combat the rising cost of living being experienced throughout the country, the Government introduced fare reductions of 20% on average on PSO services. Funding has been secured in budget 2023 for the continuation of the young adult card on PSO and commercial services, as well as retaining the 20% average fare discount on PSO services. These fare initiatives are making a significant positive difference to people’s lives throughout the country and their continuation in 2023 represents a significant investment by the taxpayer in public transport.

With regard to short-hop zones, given the current cost-of-living crisis and various pressures on the Exchequer throughout the system, budget 2023 is focused on delivering the maximum benefit for all passengers. Funding was directed, therefore, towards the fare initiatives I outlined rather than any narrow application to specific issues that can arise with some fares at the edges of the current short-hop zones. These issues are acknowledged, however, and the NTA is examining what needs to be done to ensure the distance-based fare outside the short-hop zone is in line with the distance-based fare inside the short-hop zone to ensure the fares will be more equitable. This work is ongoing as part of a national fares review for rail and bus services.

The Government is committed to providing a comprehensive national transport network that connects our people and places throughout Ireland. For this reason, the Government has an ambitious vision to transform transport services and infrastructure nationwide, with one of the key priorities for public transport being the roll-out of the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan. The House will be aware that Connecting Ireland will significantly increase both the number of routes and the frequency of existing services throughout the country. It aims to enhance existing services and introduce new public transport services. On 19 July, the NTA announced the Connecting Ireland programme’s phase 1 implementation plan, which has delivered a mix of new and enhanced bus services on routes and services serving areas in counties Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Clare, Sligo, Kildare, Offaly, Mayo, Laois, Limerick, Tipperary, Louth and Wexford. Over the coming weeks, the NTA plans to implement improvements to levels of service on a further 14 services throughout the State. Implementation of the programme at the pace outlined by the Government and in line with the funding and operational resources available.

Regarding our rail network, the strategic rail review being undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland will inform the development of interurban, interregional rail on the island of Ireland over the coming decades. The review will set the type of strategic backdrop to rail investment in our regions and on our mainline network and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

This review will also consider the potential scope for improved rail services along the various existing or future potential corridors of the network. That scope will include the potential afforded by disused and closed lines. It will be one of the most significant reviews of the rail network on the island in many years and will provide a framework to develop a much-improved rail network in the years ahead.

With regard to the Navan rail line, the NTA's draft transport strategy for the greater Dublin area is recommending the development of a rail link to Navan by 2042. This project will require significant planning and design before construction can commence. As it stands, the draft strategy proposes delivery of the Navan rail line in the latter half of the strategy period between 2031 and 2042.

With regard to the issue of establishing a dedicated public transport policing unit, as this House will be aware, antisocial behaviour is a broad societal issue we are currently facing to which public transport is not immune. The safety and security of both public transport passengers and staff, including arrangements to deal with antisocial behaviour, are important matters that first and foremost must be managed by every public transport company in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, where appropriate. It is important to note that any decisions regarding the establishment of a transport police unit and the allocation of Garda resources are matters for the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner. That said, the NTA regularly engages with public transport operators on the issue of antisocial behaviour and has established a working group on antisocial behaviour that meets monthly to discuss any developing trends among public transport operators and to share best practices.

The Minister for Transport is fully committed to strengthening our public transport offerings and progressively making them accessible for all. This requires a whole-journey approach, which refers to all elements that constitute a journey from the starting point to destination. It also means applying the principles of universal design. As the House will be aware, the Department of Transport and its agencies are progressively making public transport accessible for disabled people by ensuring new infrastructure and services are accessible from the start and by retrofitting older infrastructure and facilities to make them accessible. Accessibility features such as wheelchair accessibility and audiovisual aids are built into all new public transport infrastructure projects and vehicles from the design stage. Newer systems such as the Luas are fully accessible, as are all new buses purchased by the NTA.

The public transport accessibility retrofit programme has increased from an average of €7 million over the past four years to €15.3 million for 2022. This will be used to ensure continued works to improve accessibility at train stations, bus stations and stops. A sum of €18 million has been invested over four years to replace or renovate the lifts at the train stations. All of the major public transport companies consult persons with disabilities, individuals and representative organisations through the companies' disability user groups. The user groups provide a forum for operators to consult and update disability organisations on accessibility proposals and developments and for disability organisations to raise operational and other accessibility issues.

With regard to the call for the NTA to exercise its regulatory powers to ensure punctuality, reliability and customer service standards are met by all public transport operators and providers, I would like to clarify that the NTA uses all the contractual and regulatory powers available to it to measure, report on and seek to maintain and improve standards across public service obligation, PSO, transport services. In instances where performance drops, financial penalties are rigorously applied unless the cause of the loss of performance is outside of the control of the operator, for example, high levels of Covid sickness absence. In recent months, all bus operators have faced challenges in maintaining adequate staff numbers to cover all requirements. The NTA has worked collaboratively with all operators to try to mitigate the impact of these staff shortages. However, the summer months were challenging, with performance deductions applied to a number of operators, as per all PSO contracts. In recent weeks, performance standards have improved although there remains a shortage of driving and maintenance staff, which will take some time to resolve fully. With regard to PSO contractual arrangements between the NTA and Go-Ahead Ireland, the current contracts with Go-Ahead are regularly reviewed by the NTA, as with all PSO contracts. Whether tendered or directly awarded, all decisions relating to contract extensions or renewals will be made following a detailed assessment of a number of factors, including the performance of the operator over the duration of the contract in question.

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, this motion is generally in line with the principles of this Government in terms of prioritising investment in the public transport network. As I outlined, however, some elements of the motion do not properly reflect the progress to date in this area, the work currently underway or the Government's future plans for public transport.

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