Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Dolan for raising this important topic. I know how passionate she is about advocating for the best interests of the local communities in Galway and Roscommon. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ryan.

The Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport but neither the Minister nor 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 who deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.

That said, I reassure the Senator that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays an important role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, under budget 2024 a funding package of €613 million has been secured for public service obligation, PSO, and Local Link services. 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.

I turn my attention to the specific issue raised by Senator Dolan.While the majority of public transport in Ireland is Exchequer funded through the PSO programme, a critical part of the national public transport system is comprised of bus services run on a commercial basis throughout the country. The Galway to Dublin Airport service provided by Aircoach falls into the latter category. As such, any decision taken on the cessation of that specific route is a commercial decision solely for the operator, in which neither the Department of Transport nor the NTA has a role.

That said, if a commercial operator ceases to run a specific route, the NTA undertakes an assessment to determine whether, with the discontinuation of the commercial service, it is necessary for a replacement PSO route to be introduced to ensure no loss of connectivity to the public. This process includes an assessment of the level of demand for public transport services in the affected area, an evaluation of whether existing PSO services can be reconfigured to meet any shortfall and whether it is necessary to competitively tender for the provision of services.

As of April 2024, the NTA has determined that the removal of the routes 20 and X20 service will have limited impact on Galway to Dublin intercity journeys as Citylink route 763 continues to support the route. Additionally, there is currently no public service obligation to introduce new services to replace route 706. As outlined in the NTA’s assessment, public transport trips from Galway to Athlone and Athlone to Dublin will continue to be served by rail and bus. Route 763 provides eight return trips daily and Irish Rail provides nine departures on weekdays, eight on Saturdays and six on Sundays in both directions between Galway and Athlone. Athlone is included within corridor 23 in the Connecting Ireland plan, which specifies a minimum service frequency of two hours on all services between Galway and Dublin. Following the withdrawal of route 706, the remaining service provision exceeds the minimum service frequency identified by Connecting Ireland. The NTA will continue to monitor local demands for travel along this corridor to ensure they remain fit for purpose.