Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Lahart. Is ábhar an-tábhachtach é seo. I think you need more buses. There is no doubt about it. The Deputy has raised a lot of issues there and I will be happy to pass them to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, and make it clear what Deputy’s constituents are saying.

The Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and funding but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation. As the Deputy knows, the statutory responsibility rests with the National Transport Authority, NTA. The NTA works with the operators which deliver the services and which have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. That being said, the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable transport options, and public transport has a key part to play in this. In budget 2023, the Department secured €563.55 million in funding for public service obligation, PSO, and Local Link services. This is a significant increase on last year.

More recently, under budget 2024, a funding package of approximately €611 million has been secured for PSO and Local Link services. This includes funding for the continuation of the 20% fare reduction on PSO services, the young adult card on both PSO and commercial bus services and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2024. Funding has also been secured to support new and enhanced bus and rail services next year.

The Government is committed to improving public transport - both bus and rail - and is backing up that up with significant investment. This includes BusConnects. The latest phase of the BusConnects network redesign in Dublin, phase 5b, started on 26 November and involves the introduction of new southern orbital, radial and local routes. The S2, 74 and L25 routes are operated by Dublin Bus and routes S4, S6, S8, W2 and L55 are operated by Go Ahead Ireland.

Phase 5b represents an increase in service levels of approximately 80%. It is one of the most significant changes under the network redesign to date. With the introduction of these new services, as of 26 November, routes 17, 17d, 18, 61, 75, 75a, 76, 76a and 175 ceased operations. I understand that information booklets are being delivered to households in the areas that are affected by the launch, and an extensive media and public relations campaign has started.

With respect to the Deputy’s specific queries, it should be noted that UCD should be served by routes S4 and S6, running every ten and 15 minutes, respectively. Other existing routes such as the 39a, 46a, 145 and 155 will continue to run. The S4 route should provide a direct connection via Clonskeagh to Milltown for the Luas and then to Rathgar and Terenure for connections with routes 14, 15, 15a, 15b and 16. These connections are either new or much more direct than the current route 17, which loops southward between UCD and Terenure. Route S4 then continues via Crumlin to Ballyfermot and Liffey Valley. Route S6 continues to provide the connection to Dundrum, but at a higher frequency than route 175, then onward via Rathfarnham to give new direct connections with Templeogue and Firhouse Road and on to Tallaght.

The Department, the NTA and the operators are working to ensure the best deployment of resources across the public transport network to match changing passenger demand patterns. I am conscious of what the Deputy and his constituents are saying. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the NTA need to know that. Clearly, they are having difficulty with the roll-out of this programme.

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