Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, to the House.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I also welcome the Minister of State to the House. She is here to take this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan. This is about the need and urgency around bus services in rural areas and specifically my own home area of Roscommon and Galway and Ballinasloe town.At the public consultation phase of the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan, I co-ordinated a video campaign to highlight proposed and urgently needed routes. This was in December 2021, at which time we were encouraging submissions. We have seen some of those new services, which I acknowledge. There is a Castlerea service to Ballinasloe that goes through Glenamaddy, Mountbellew, Caltra and Ahascragh. It is a fantastic service, because there were no buses going through some of those towns. In fact, there was no way for some of those people to go to day services in the social services. It is fantastic to see that up and running now. It was only launched in the past month or so. We are looking at three services per day, which again is fantastic. They are linking up places like Ballinasloe and Castlerea, which are already linked by geography by the River Suck. Again, it is bringing students to the university campus town in Mountbellew and linking people to different towns in our area.

We also have the Local Link from Ballinasloe to Portumna, which is going through Lawrencetown and Eyrecourt. The frequency of service is about three times per day. There is a bus running from Loughrea to Ballinasloe. This replaces the X20 route. There used to be the 20 bus. For a student going from Dublin to Galway, there was the Bus Éireann 20 route and the X20, which was the express service. It would take all of the stops to Athlone and then go directly from Athlone to Dublin. That route was taken off one or two years ago and it has caused a lot of challenges for people who use the bus pass to travel and for students travelling. A Local Link was put in place from Loughrea to Ballinasloe covering some of those areas like Kilreekil, Cappataggle and Kilconnell. We also have some commercial services and providers covering those routes.

However, there are crucial needs here because there is currently no link between and Athlone and Ballinasloe on the old Dublin to Galway road. That would go through the communities of Summerhill, Drum, Moor, outside of Creagh and into Ballinasloe. There is no public service on that route, which used to be a major route in Ireland on the old Dublin to Galway road. It is one of the proposals under the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan and I want to ask about that particular route because in Ballinasloe we have Portiuncula University Hospital. It is the hospital for more than 20,000 people in Athlone and covers and takes in a catchment area of almost 500,000. It is the hospital for that city. For people attending maternity appointments in particular, there is no way for them to get directly to the hospital. The train station is roughly 15 minutes from the hospital itself, which is almost a one mile walk. If someone is in need and not able to walk, the bus service would be fantastic as it would stop right outside the hospital. I am asking that we have that service going forward. I am hoping it is a service being proposed and is one that would connect. We had the Minister, Deputy Ryan, down to launch the first electric bus in Athlone only a week or two ago.

The other services I want to inquire about are the A78 from Athlone to Roscommon. Athlone to Ballinasloe is one route, then Athlone to Roscommon goes through Ballyforan, Ballygar and Athleague. This is one of the proposals. It would bring connectivity to some of those towns and connect people from Athlone to Roscommon. Route 440 from Athlone to Westport is also proposed, bringing in Roscommon and Mayo.

My other points are on communication in local communities. What is the National Transport Authority, NTA, doing on communication with regional newspapers, local radio stations and community publications? I do not know if all of the information is on bus stops. However, that is something we need to see.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and I thank Senator Dolan for her question. I am delighted to be here today on behalf of the Minister for Transport, and I understand the Senator's question relates to the roll-out of the Connecting Ireland plan more generally, but also specifically regarding route 23 between Athlone and Ballinasloe. I know she mentioned a few other routes too.

The Department of Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport. However, the Department is not involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services nationally. It is the NTA, the National Transport Authority, that has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally by way of contracts, and for the allocation of associated funding to the relevant transport operators. I reassure Senator Dolan that the Government is dedicated to providing the public with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. The Minister for Transport is obviously very conscious of the need to connect people and places across Ireland. It is important to provide opportunities for all citizens to access employment, education, healthcare or retail.The Minister is strongly committed to improving public transport services in rural areas and piloting new transport initiatives for people of all ages and abilities living there. Whether it is reduced car dependency or a more integrated transport network, our vision for rural Ireland is ambitious and one that is central to his Department's work programme for 2023.

The Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan supports this ambition, with its core aims being improvement of public transport services in rural areas and piloting of new transport initiatives for all. Under this pivotal plan we will see a 25% overall increase in rural bus services, over 100 rural villages benefiting from a frequent public transport service of at least three return trips daily for the first time and over 60 new connections to regional cities from surrounding areas. Importantly, the ethos of community-led transport will also be maintained. This has already been seen in the adaptation of the Connecting Ireland proposals in supporting the increased demands for public transport in local areas where the population has increased due to the high influx of Ukrainian refugees.

In relation specifically to the Senator's question on services connecting Athlone and Ballinasloe, I am happy to clarify that regional corridor 23 is currently served by a number of express and multi-stop services between Galway and Dublin. As a part of upcoming Connecting Ireland phases, the National Transport Authority, NTA, plans to review services on this corridor in the years 2024 and 2025 to assess the possibility of an increased frequency of services and better integration. While it is not currently planned to introduce new or enhanced services along the R446, the old Dublin to Galway road, between Athlone and Ballinasloe, the Department and the NTA remain agile and flexible in their management of the programme, so that where implementation can be kept under review and where progress could be impacted, other plans can be advanced instead. The NTA also publishes updates on the implementation of these services in its quarterly bulletin, which can be found on its website.

It is also important to note there are currently a number of routes operated from Athlone to Galway. We have the Citylink services 660, 760 and 761 with nine services per day to Ballinasloe. There is the AirCoach 706 express, with a number of services per day to Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, and the GoBus 720. The Senator is shaking her head at that. It differs from her experience. She can let me know and I will come back to her on it.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the Minister of State is representing the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, but the services she has mentioned from the commercial providers go on the motorway. They do not go through the towns and villages we are supposed to be connecting. My huge issue is there are communities that benefited. Families, older people and students use that service. When the buses went on the old Dublin-Galway road the service was very well used and was the main route from Dublin to Galway. The motorway has happened and it has bypassed many of these communities. We are instead left with commercial providers that are of course going to go from town to town on the motorway, but what happens to the communities living in between the motorways? It is up to us and to the State to provide a public transport service to people who are not being connected by commercial providers. I am surprised it is going to take two more years, when we have an electric bus that has just been launched that is supposed to do a 150 mile-radius. It is less than 20 miles from Athlone to Ballinasloe. It is in the proposal.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. I note she welcomed the Castlerea to Ballinasloe service, which will offer three services a day to students, the campus and all of that. I note she also mentioned the 878 Athlone to Roscommon service and the 440 from Athlone as well. I will ask the Minister for Transport to come back to her directly on those. There are, I understand, four routes planned for the first phase of Connecting Ireland for Galway. Some have been implemented already in the Connemara region, including route 431 from Carraroe to Claremorris via Maam Cross, Cong and Ballinrobe. There is also route 432. In the coming months two further routes will be implemented, namely, route 546 from Ballinasloe and route 438 from Tuam to Galway. All of the aforementioned routes will offer a minimum three return trips seven days a week.