Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Landy for raising this matter. He has raised it with me on a number of occasions and I am aware of his deep concern about the issue. I welcome the opportunity to respond to him formally on the floor of the Seanad and I will outline the position.

I am very much aware of the importance of this matter. I am also aware of the concern that this change is causing among the communities to which the Senator has referred. Last week, I and the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, met some residents who live along another part of the route that the Senator referred to in order to discuss this issue with them.

As the Senator is aware, the National Transport Authority has responsibility at national level for securing the provision of public passenger land transport services. This includes the provision of subvented bus and rail services by Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. The National Transport Authority also licenses commercial bus passenger services. Under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, the National Transport Authority assumed responsibility for the regulation of commercial bus passenger services. These services were previously regulated by my Department under the Road Transport Act 1932. The Act obliges all operators to be licensed if they are providing public bus passenger services, and it is applied equally to both private and public bus companies.

Public service obligation, PSO, services covered by public service contracts do not fall within the licensing system. Commercial bus services are licensed in accordance with the provisions of the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009 and in line with the NTA's published guidelines for the licensing of public bus passenger services. The guidelines are published on the NTA website. The guidelines were prepared in accordance with the detailed provisions set out in section 23 of the 2009 Act.

Where operators apply to withdraw or curtail commercial bus services, and this goes to the heart of one of the questions posed by the Senator, the NTA will grant such amendments as it has no legislative powers to refuse them. In such circumstances the NTA may examine whether, in the absence of any commercial services, a PSO exists to provide socially necessary but commercially unviable public transport services. Such examination will include an assessment of the demand for public transport services and options either to reconfigure existing PSO services or to tender competitively for the provision of services. In either event, the NTA's ability to provide such services is subject to the availability of funding.

As to the specific issue of the funding of substitute services, I am acutely aware of the concerns of many people regarding recent decisions to withdraw licensed commercial services to a number of intermediate locations on major routes into Dublin, including route 7 from Carrick-on- Suir. Major improvements to the national roads network on the M9 motorway have provided the opportunity for commercial bus operators to offer improved journey times between Dublin and regional cities in particular. What has happened is Bus Éireann and other commercial bus operators have sought to amend their licences accordingly with the consequent effect of reducing the level of service provided to a number of intermediate locations on the network.The NTA has indicated that it will examine options either to reconfigure existing PSO services or to tender competitively for the provision of services to those areas affected by the changes. I should add that I gave a commitment to avoid further reductions in PSO funding, and for the first time since 2008, the level of funding for bus and rail services is being maintained in 2015 at the same level as in 2014. I will continue to liaise with the NTA on the issues involved. I also recently secured €110 million for public transport as part of the 2014 Supplementary Estimate for my Department, which included €45 million for Irish Rail's network renewal investment and €50 million for bus renewal for Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. I assure the Senator that I will be examining this issue further in the coming weeks.