Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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10. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will outline his engagement with Local Link operators in the context of their increased role in providing rural public transport under Connecting Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1945/23]

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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Under this Government, with Green Party involvement, there has been investment in public transport and rural public transport in particular, the likes of which has not been seen previously but much of the burden for implementing the Connecting Ireland plan, which is pivotal to providing rural public transport, is falling on Local Link services. Will the Minister outline his engagement with Local Link operators in the context of their increasing role in providing rural public transport under Connecting Ireland?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We are committed to improving public transport in rural and urban areas across the country. A key deliverable among the policies we have put in place is the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan. TFI Local Link services are responsible for the vast majority of new routes under Connecting Ireland. The latest figures from October last year show Local Link delivered 17 of the 25 new and enhanced services. They, therefore, have a leading role in delivering that policy commitment. In the context of their central role, I met with Local Link representatives in December to discuss the future development of the services.

Connecting Ireland aims to provide better connections between villages and towns by linking them with an enhanced regional network connecting cities and regional centres nationwide. This will be achieved by expanding Local Link services and prioritising public transport projects that enhance connectivity. To this end, I have secured increased funding for public transport in rural Ireland to improve services across the country. In addition, I have sought to ensure that our key policy statements, such as the climate action plan and the sustainable mobility policy, recognise the importance of public transport in rural Ireland and set challenging targets to ensure continued improvement in the years ahead.

The NTA is also responsible for delivering the roll-out of Connecting Ireland by procuring the provision of TFI Local Link and Connecting Ireland services, including with individual public transport commercial operators. The wider project will be achieved through a dedicated professional team of network planners, procurement specialists, contract managers and marketing professionals. In implementing these services, NTA works collaboratively with the Local Link team across each of the 15 Local Link offices, with Bus Éireann, which is operating a significant number of the new or enhanced services and with commercial operators that are also providing public transport services in rural Ireland.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister. I am glad he has been engaging with them, but I am not sure the answer goes to the crux of the issue. He has had an invitation to go to County Sligo to go surfing; he can come to County Waterford and go surfing as well but I will make him check in with the Local Link operator there if he does. County Waterford provides probably one of the best Local Link services in the country. From my town, Tramore, people can access Dungarvan on one service, and they can get to Dunmore East on another. From Dungarvan, fantastic services serve the Gaeltacht communities, which go through Cappoquin, Lismore and Tallow, for example. We are getting close to an every village, every hour service, particularly on the Cappoquin route. I am hearing that while the Local Link operators are taking up a huge amount of the slack and making a huge expansion to their services, they are not necessarily getting the support they need. They are not necessarily being heard by the NTA in the correct or collaborative way the Minister spoke about regarding route planning. Do they need to be more resourced? Do they need to be more supported in the roll-out of these services?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am very supportive of the NTA and the work it has done on this matter. It has had a central role in designing, promoting and pushing the new Connecting Ireland system. It has been given additional staff resources in the past two years so it can scale up. I agree that the Local Links are the right vehicle. They are community-based and distributed across 15 centres in a network with operations throughout the country with very good local knowledge. In the meeting I had with Local Link representatives in December, the key focus of the discussion was the corporate and governance arrangements and resourcing for them to be able to take, as the Deputy described it, the "burden". This is a huge opportunity for Local Link. This is a transformative moment and it is in the integration with the health transport system as well. We should also look at integration with the education transport system in this way, as well as these new PSO-type services. The response from the public, particularly younger people, has been phenomenal. People are using these services. We need to go further with better marketing of the services, we need bus stops and we need much better timetabling, which require resources for the Local Link operators so they can scale up to the opportunity. It is an opportunity more than a burden.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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It can be phrased both ways as a burden and an opportunity, which it certainly is. There is an administrative burden and many people are being asked to do a lot of extra work. It needs support and resourcing. They are the correct vehicle - forgive the pun - for delivering this. Uptake has been excellent. The Lismore-Cappoquin-Dungarvan route provides an hourly service, which is well used. Many people are on that service every day and have a personal relationship with the bus driver. It is tackling rural transport issues but also social isolation issues. It is about putting in the investment. The bus stop issue is totemic and great headway could be made on it in short order. It comes up again and again when talking to Local Link operators. A bit of concrete and a pole are needed, at the very least, to let people know a rural transport service passes through their villages and towns. It could be rolled out in short order and it would be a boost to the service and its visibility.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I agree on the bus stop issue. As the Deputy will recall, we were in Ennistymon recently and I decided to use one of the local services. I did not know where it stopped, which was confusing. There could have been better information online about the timetable and the route. I agree with the Deputy. This is starting to work but this could work even better. In many instances it would be great to have a bus stop with a shelter but that is a much more expensive and difficult operation. In some instances, it could be a plaque on a wall. That is needed as part of the new network we are rolling out as part of Connecting Ireland. It needs advertising, better organisation and a promotional campaign in order that everyone knows there is a significant expansion in rural public transport services. NTA is the key organisation managing and rolling it out, but local authorities are also involved. We must be careful that is does not become cumbersome. Everyone in this Chamber will know, as former councillors, sometimes getting a bus stop can cost a fortune and take years. We need to be quick. It needs to be simple, agile and low cost. We need the stop infrastructure and the advertising infrastructure for the new services.