Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Cannon for raising this very important topic, which I know he has a great interest in and has been fighting for. From the outset, I would like to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding for public transport but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority. The NTA works with the public transport operators, which deliver the services and which have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.

That said, I reassure Deputy Cannon that 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. To support this objective, in budget 2023, the Department of Transport secured €563.55 million of funding for public service obligation, PSO, and Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link services, an increase from €538 million in 2022. More recently, under budget 2024, a funding package of circa €611.813 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.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is committed to improving public transport and is backing up that commitment with significant investments across the network. I understand that the majority of public transport links between Loughrea and Galway city are provided by two commercial operators, with some linkages with the PSO network in the city. The main service currently available to passengers is Citylink's bus route 763 between Galway Coach Station and Dublin Airport, which operates nine times daily. Passengers can also travel between Loughrea and Galway on Healy Bus's 920 service which operates four times daily between Galway and Loughrea. Bus Éireann also operates the 404 bus route from Eyre Square to Newcastle and the 409 bus route from Eyre Square to Parkmore Industrial Estate at ten or 15 minute intervals throughout the day, which passengers can transfer from at GMIT to one of the services provided by Healy Bus.

I further understand that BusConnects Galway will be a major enhancement to the bus system in Galway, comprising changes to the network, bus fleet, ticketing, bus shelters and poles, and the development of bus lanes and other bus priority measures. The largest part of the programme is the development of bus priority measures and bus lanes throughout the city. Key elements of that programme are currently under development, namely the cross-city link project and the Dublin Road scheme. The Salmon Weir Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists was also officially opened to the public in May. The Salmon Weir Bridge project is a new pedestrian and cycle bridge located between Gaol Road and Newtownsmith in Galway city centre and crosses the Lower Corrib river adjacent to the existing Salmon Weir Bridge.

The cross-city link is a 6.7 km scheme that aims to create a sustainable transport corridor from the north east of Galway to the north west, crossing the Salmon Weir Bridge. It includes the creation of a dedicated bus gate over the Salmon Weir Bridge, reallocation of road space away from private vehicles, and the provision of segregated cycling infrastructure and upgraded pedestrian facilities. Once complete, bus routes will be modified to use the high-quality corridor and create an interchange hub at Eyre Square.

The Dublin Road scheme will deliver 4 km of high-quality pedestrian, cyclist and public transport infrastructure along a key transport corridor on the east of the city, from the Martin roundabout to Moneenageisha junction.

I also reassure Deputy Cannon that the Department of Transport, the NTA and the operators are working to ensure the optimised deployment of resources across the public transport network to match changing passenger demand patterns.

Additionally, under budget 2024, the Department has allocated €15 million for the development of Ceannt Station and €1.5 million for the development of Oranmore Station.

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