Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this issue on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan. I wish to clarify that the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in respect of public transport, and neither the Minister or 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, NTA. The NTA works with the public transport operators that deliver the services and that have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.

That said, I reassure the Deputy that 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 2024, the Department of Transport secured €613.463 million of funding for public service obligation and Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link services, and we can see them expanding across the country. 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, both bus and rail, and is backing up that commitment with significant investments across the network. This includes the continued roll-out of the BusConnects programme.

With regard to his specific question on planned changes to the 220 route at Grange Manor in Cork, I understand that there have been issues with some bus services in Cork city in recent months and that these issues have been having a negative impact on the travelling public. That is not something we want to see happen. The NTA advised that it is specifically aware of the ongoing punctuality and reliability issues in Cork city and it is working closely with Bus Éireann to address these issues. I am further advised that a number of routes in Cork city are being prioritised for planned service improvements in 2024, including the 220 route referenced by the Deputy. To this end, Bus Éireann is working with the NTA to examine what steps can be taken to improve service provision in the city and counter the impact of issues such as traffic congestion.

The introduction of the MacCurtain Street public transport improvement scheme on 26 November 2023 and subsequent timetable refreshes represent a significant investment into Cork city. However, I recognise that there is still work to be done to build out these incremental changes. I understand that service reliability and punctuality enhancements for routes 220, 225 and 226 need to be addressed, and these routes in particular are being reviewed by the NTA and Bus Éireann with a view towards additional timetable refreshes. Further recruitment campaigns for drivers are under way in Cork city to address shortages, which will also improve service provision in the city.

Beyond that, the planned Cork network redesign will involve the creation of new bus routes and improved frequencies to help transform the public transport network to meet anticipated growth and future demand in the region. It is currently anticipated that the Cork network redesign will commence implementation from 2025 subject to funding and resource availability. These service issues highlight the fundamental importance of ensuring bus priority measures, such as those proposed as part of BusConnects sustainable transport corridors.

I also want to reassure the Deputy 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. I will come back in on a supplementary in respect of some of the specific issues the Deputy raised in respect of public consultation and so on, if that is okay.

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