Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Lawless for raising the importance of rail and bus connectivity in County Mayo. As Minister of State at the Department with responsibility for rural transport, I am delighted to say we have seen considerable investment in services throughout the country under the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan. In County Mayo especially, funding has gone up by 56% over the past two years. We saw a boost in passenger numbers by 72% between 2023 to 2024. As Deputy Lawless knows quite well, a great example of this continued investment can be seen in the launch of routes 460a and 460b, as recently as Monday of this week. These new routes will offer connectivity to regional bus services, Castlebar Station, Mayo hospital and the villages and areas between Castlebar and Achill Island.

I am also pleased to share that in July of this year, Ireland's first-ever smart demand-responsive transport service was launched in Achill in Deputy Lawless's county. I commend the Minister, Deputy Calleary, for his role in this, along with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney. This pilot marks a major milestone in rural mobility innovation. It is a flagship initiative designed to revolutionise how rural communities access public transport. As Deputy Lawless knows, the service introduces a flexible, door-to-door, app-based transport model tailored to local needs, offering greater convenience, accessibility and frequency. I and my colleagues in the Department look forward to seeing reports on its implementation over the coming months.

As Deputy Lawless knows, Connecting Ireland has been a major success, with over 175 new or improved services since 2022, linking 240-plus towns and villages to public transport.

It has delivered 61 healthcare connections, including connections in the Deputy's county of Mayo, 41 connections to higher education and 71 linking to rail. In 2024 alone, nearly 8 million passenger journeys were made. Our Department supports the continued expansion of rural transport in line with our commitments in the programme for Government.

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