Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague for raising this very important matter and for his impassioned plea on behalf of his own constituents in County Mayo in terms of the need for improved public transport services, particularly improved bus capacity and airport access. In my own ministerial role, I am also very taken with the points he makes about the importance of capacity for college students. We are doing more in the north west in terms of access to university with ATU in Castlebar, which is now a university town. Indeed we are working collectively on plans for the development of a major college of further education in Castlebar. Of course, there will always be people from County Mayo who are going for education in other places too and we need to make sure they have proper public transport facilities. I will certainly feed this back to my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I know he shares this view on the importance of investment in public transport. I will also work with Deputy Dillon on making sure we can continue to make progress. Objectively, the Government has placed an unprecedented focus on investment in rural and regional Ireland. I am very conscious of the fact that rural transport and transport links are a very big part of making sure that social and economic life and well-being are sustainable and thrive in rural Ireland.

I thank Deputy Dillon for raising the important topic. As he knows, the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding. He is strongly committed to improving public transport services in rural Ireland, as is the Government, and to piloting new transport initiatives for people of all ages and abilities living there. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. One of the key plans for enhancing the existing transport network across Ireland falls under what the Deputy referred to already, the NTA's Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan. This plan aims to develop an integrated, accessible and sustainable network of public transport offerings across the country. Connecting Ireland is a major national public transport initiative with the aim of increasing public transport connectivity, particularly for people living outside the major cities and towns. Over 100 rural villages will benefit from frequent public transport service, in other words at least three return trips daily, for the first time. The plan will also see a 25% overall increase in rural bus services, and over 60 new connections to regional cities from the surrounding hinterlands. Collectively, these measures will not only further improve connectivity in the area but will provide viable alternatives to the private car for those living in the region.

The first year of implementation of Connecting Ireland was only last year, which saw 38 new and enhanced services launched. The 2023 implementation distribution has been developed by the NTA through discussions with the Local Link transport co-ordination units, Bus Éireann and other stakeholders. Under phase 2 of the plan, 69 new and enhanced services nationwide are proposed for 2023. We have gone from 38 new ones last year to 69 this year. The rural transport programme, now operating under the TFI Local Link brand which Deputy Dillon referenced, has been providing scheduled and demand-responsive public transport services with success in rural counties across Ireland for many years. Local Link services are an integral part of the public transport offering and connecting communities throughout rural Ireland. In recognition of the vital role these services play, there has been a substantial increase in funding for Local Link services over recent years, going from €12 million in 2016 to over €42 million this year. The additional funding has enabled the introduction of 100 new rural regular service routes, as well as improvements to demand-responsive door-to-door services and the piloting of evening and night-time services in certain rural areas.

Specifically in respect of Mayo and in the context of those expanding budgets these organisations are receiving, I want to assure the Deputy that I will certainly take his concerns and views back to the Minister for Transport and the NTA.

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