Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State for coming to take this matter. I am standing here today to highlight the growing demand for TFI Local Link bus services in County Donegal, particularly in the villages of Ardara, Glenties and Portnoo and other areas like the Doorin Line in Mountcharles and Lough Eske by Lough Eske Castle.

The current action plan expires at the end of 2025, and I hope a new action plan will include improved services for the area of Glenties, Portnoo and Ardara. That route is No. 994. I also hope a plan will be put in place for the Doorin Line in Mountcharles, Lough Eske and Donegal town.

Usage has reached record levels, with over 100,000 journeys being done weekly across rural Ireland. This demonstrates the essential service that Local Link provides rural communities. Currently, Ardara has one departure each day, scheduled before noon. In contrast, the Glencolumbkille route has five daily services, with additional options at the weekend, which is brilliant. I could not highlight this service enough. The people are so happy with the service they are getting and it should be the template for moving forward with this service in Donegal. Everybody I talk to, from Malin Beg to Donegal town, is so thankful for this service. I wanted to say that because sometimes things get a bad doing but this is one we are extremely proud of.

There would be an immense benefit for Ardara and Portnoo if we could link the Ardara-Glenties-Portnoo service to Donegal town. It would enhance the travel for people going to Dublin for health reasons, such as hospital visits, or to the airport if we could get everything channelled through Donegal town. Such a service would provide greater accessibility for the communities, allowing residents to travel conveniently throughout the day.

The Local Link service has significant benefits for rural communities by improving accessibility, reducing social isolation and enhancing mobility for residents. These are often a lifeline for areas with limited public transport options allowing people to access employment, education, healthcare and essential service. We have a great service there and we need to enhance it.

There are wee pockets in Donegal that are left behind. I wish we could get these wee pockets a service. It is going very well; we just need to enhance it.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Boyle for raising the matter and for his ongoing advocacy on behalf of the people of Donegal regarding transport and specific routes, including the areas he mentioned. It is a beautiful part of Donegal from Ardara to Glenties to Portnoo. I hear the Senator about the gaps and I look forward to going to Donegal in July to visit with the Senator. I hope we can meet some of the people involved.

A number of Connecting Ireland proposals on the Inishowen Peninsula, Fanad Peninsula and north-west Donegal were implemented last year. We are currently in year four of a five-year Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan with further new and enhanced routes planned over the coming years, including ones in County Donegal.Further enhancements are planned for the corridors between Glencolumbkille and Donegal town and between An Clochán Liath and Donegal town. Further enhancements are planned for the east Donegal area.

I will specifically address the matters raised by the Senator. The Ardara to Glenties corridor is currently connected to Donegal town by Bus Éireann route 492. We can talk again about the need to provide further connectivity. The National Transport Authority, NTA, is in discussions with Bus Éireann to enhance the frequency of this route under the Connecting Ireland programme, subject to funding and resources. Ardara is also connected to Killybegs by route 991, which is operated by McGeehan Coaches.

The ambition to improve rural transport services was further strengthened by the national sustainability policy and the related action plan, which covers the years 2022 to 2025. The policy, which was published in April 2022, is a cornerstone of Ireland's strategy to transform how people move around the country. As we approach the end of the current action plan and reflect on the progress made in three short years, I confirm that my Department is now developing a successor plan that will outline what can be achieved between 2026 and 2030. My Department has responsibility for policy and overall funding for 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 NTA. It works with the public transport operators to deliver the services and has responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.

That said, the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. In the new programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, the Government has committed to increasing Local Link services in rural areas to better connect villages, towns and cities. The Senator rightly made reference to travel for health and social care issues. Funding for rural transport programmes increased from €16 million in 2022 to €25 million last year and 150 new or enhanced services have been rolled out under the Connecting Ireland programme since 2022. This roll-out has been successful and, under the plan, 240 new towns and villages have been connected to the public transport network. Some 61 new connections have been established to healthcare facilities and a further 41 new connections have been made to higher educational facilities. The services introduced to date have, as the Senator said, increased exponentially. In excess of 330,000 weekly vehicle kilometres have been added to the TFI public transport network. Passenger numbers have seen a fivefold increase since the roll-out of Connecting Ireland began in 2022, with a record number of passengers. Some 100,000 journeys were recorded in October of last year.

There are a number of corridors in the region, as the Senator has outlined, where the NTA hopes to enhance services, particularly to provide additional evening and weekend services. It is currently exploring the mechanisms available to enhance commercially operated vehicles.

The Department, the NTA and the operators will work to optimise the deployment of resources across the public transport network to match passenger demand. Following the Senator's invitation to visit Donegal, I look forward to meeting him and others involved in the provision of local transport links in the county.

Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. It is great to hear that he will come to Donegal. The model there is working. There are just wee pockets that have been left behind. If they could be taken into consideration, we would have a scheme that would work for everybody. I know of four elderly people in Mountcharles who have no vehicle or cannot drive. A service to bring them into Donegal town would be great.

I appreciate the Minister of State coming to the House to answer my questions. I hope Ardara, Glenties and Portnoo will be taken into the review and more daily services, like that in Glencolumbkille, will be run.

While I have the Minister of State here, and perhaps I should not do this and I know he had nothing to do with the issue, but I would like him to take back to the Minister for Transport an issue about the A5. It is a major issue for us in Donegal. The project has been shelved again. My phone has been inundated with comments from people on the issue. I would like the Minister of State to ask the Minister to come to the Seanad to answer questions and see whether we can get that project up and running again.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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The Senator is right to express his disappointment and that of the people of Donegal in respect of the A5. I thank him for doing so. It is a project to which the Government is committed. It has invested. The decision of the High Court in Belfast is deeply disappointing. I hope that representatives of the Department for Infrastructure in the North and our Department of Transport can meet soon to see how we can work together to ensure the project is expedited. The Senator is right that it is a critical road corridor.

The Senator is also correct that the model in Donegal is working well. I met Mary Coughlan, the chair of the board, recently. The Senator has repeatedly raised the gaps with me, and I thank him for doing so. I am fully committed to delivering a more sustainable, inclusive and accessible transport system for the people of Donegal in future iterations.

I look forward to visiting the Senator in Donegal following his invitation. I will bring back his feedback. It is important, as we focus on the next action plan, that we deliver for the people of Ardara, Glenties and Portnoo in particular, as the Senator mentioned, and I thank him for doing so. I look forward to working with him to see if we can make the plan better. It is working and I thank the Senator for that praise.