Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear the sense of urgency around getting this over the line. I reassure the Senator that both the NTA and the Department of Transport have been engaging directly with commercial bus operators to help inform policy decisions in respect of the transport sector. On the working group I mentioned earlier, the Department of Transport has been liaising with the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland, CTTC, since May 2020. To date, 22 meetings have taken place and a further meeting is scheduled to take place later this month. More recently, on 25 March, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, met with the CTTC to discuss its concerns regarding the sector. As outlined earlier, it is his intention to include commercial operators as part of the youth adult card initiative. The NTA is working closely with operators in order to achieve this as quickly as possible. I will certainly relay the concerns the Senator has highlighted to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan.