Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tóg go bog é liom anois. Beidh go leor uimhreacha á liostáil agam. Since being elected to Seanad Éireann, I have been contacted by numerous people from all walks of life expressing their dissatisfaction with the level of public transport available in Tubbercurry in south Sligo. Leaving aside the matter of the full reinstatement of the western rail corridor, which I know the Minister of State, as a west of Ireland man, supports, including bringing it right up to Sligo, the level of public transport offered to Sligo's second town is woeful. I am not exaggerating when I say that. The main service on offer is the Bus Éireann No. 64 Expressway, which connects Derry to Galway, via Donegal, Sligo and Knock Airport. It is a fantastic service and is usually very reliable. It is delivered by professional and really friendly drivers seven times a day. It is supplemented by the 964 bus, operated twice a day by Feda O'Donnell Coaches. There are also two other buses that come once a week but I am not going to get into that now.

The 2022 census shows that Tubbercurry has a population of 2,307 people, which is about 10% of the population of Sligo town. It is considerably larger than the population of Strandhill, Collooney, and Ballisadare, which are the next largest towns. Tubbercurry's population has increased by a staggering 90% since 2002 and over 16% between the census of 2016 and 2022. By way of comparison, there are 31 buses running on the S2 route between Strandhill and Rosses' Point, via Sligo. That route is approximately 20 km long. I live on that route and it is fantastic to have that service. At 34 km, which is only 14 km longer than the S2 route, Sligo to Tubbercurry should be an easy commute on public transport. A large number of people living in Tubbercurry work in Sligo town, but the No. 64 is an intercity bus rather than a commuter bus. A standard Bus Éireann coach seats between 50 and 55 passengers and consequently there are very few seats available for commuters wishing to travel daily between Tubbercurry and Sligo. I point out that this should be a public service obligation, PSO, route. That is what I want and it is the whole point of my Commencement matter.

I also bring up the issue of price. A full adult fare from Rosses' Point to Strandhill on the S2 is €2, and is even less with a Leap card. However, the full adult fare from Tubbercurry to Sligo is €15.Tubbercurry does not have any other available option besides this intercity bus. It is not a commuter bus. Tubbercurry and the surrounding hinterland has no commuter bus and this needs to be addressed. The 64 is the only publicly owned public transport link between Tubbercurry and Sligo and it must be retained. I am bringing this up because it was announced by Bus Éireann that it was going to scrap the No. 52 Expressway service, which serves communities in Mayo and Galway, which are our border counties. That is what has raised this fear. I have been contacted by loads of people about this because they rely so heavily on this sole bus.

Can we get confirmation from Bus Éireann that this service will not be withdrawn? In the case of the 52 bus, the NTA made a determination that the public service obligation did exist and that the route should be retained, which is brilliant. The key consideration of this determination was that if the 52 bus were to be withdrawn, the number of available journeys in each direction would drop from 11 per day to just five per day. Were the 64 bus to be withdrawn, the consequences would be worse, and an aggregate of nine services per day would plummet to just two, and they are provided by a private service, Feda O'Donnell. Based on the Government's transport policy of avoid, shift and improve, by which we are trying to get people off roads, out of their cars and onto public transport, it is so important this route is retained and I want to get confirmation of that.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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Go raibh maith ag an Seanadóir. I am very familiar with Tubbercurry. I go though it very regularly. I have an aunt up in Dunkineely so I visit her a lot and go through Tubbercurry. Tubbercurry is famous for the fleadh cheoil as well.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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I know, yes.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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My late first cousin, and his two sons and daughters participated in the fleadh cheoil on many occasions, so I know Tubbercurry very well. I thank Senator Cosgrove for her question. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important topic with members of the House today.

From the outset, I would like to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, and I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, who is a huge supporter of the western rail corridor, as the Senator knows, and has put a lot of work into that during the programme for Government and continues to work on it. I know good progress has been made on it. Neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services, such the scheduling of timetables or monitoring of routes, which are an operational matter for Bus Éireann. Bus Éireann operates both public service obligation, PSO, services, funded by the State subvention, and Expressway intercity services, which operate on a commercial basis and do not receive any State subvention. While Expressway is a commercial operation and decisions about its network are a matter for the board, the potential implications of any changes, including for passengers, staff and the wider public transport system, give rise to a number of policy considerations.

That being said, the Minister is aware of the announcement made by Bus Éireann in March 2026 to withdraw some of its services which operate under its commercial service Expressway. It is important to note that the particular route the Senator raised, route 64, is not one of the services which was withdrawn and continues to operate as normal. The decision to withdraw routes 4 and 52 and curtail route 40 was made following a financial and operational review carried out by Bus Éireann with regard to Expressway over recent years, which sought to ensure long term sustainability of the company.

Regarding Bus Éireann's decision on services, there are implications for the public service obligation programme vis-à-vis the availability of funding for service replacements as part of the National Transport Authority's PSO determination process. The Department of Transport acknowledges that any withdrawal of Expressway services will have an impact on some passengers via reduced services and, in some cases, the loss of direct connections. However, it will continue to liaise with the NTA in this regard. The NTA has confirmed that it would seek to mitigate the impacts to the public through targeted PSO interventions where feasible, addressing the most critical connectivity gaps. It is important to note that any interventions in this case would have to take into account competition considerations and available funding and resources in the PSO programme.

Similarly, with regard to the other operator mentioned in the Senator's question, the National Transport Authority has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for decisions regarding the routes of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators. The service mentioned by the Senator is a non-subvented service that is run on a commercial and competitive basis by the operator itself and does not receive funding from the Exchequer.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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Go raibh maith ag an Aire Stáit. Tá áthas orm é sin a chloisteáil. Just to confirm, it is not being taken away and it will not be taken away.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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That is what I have in my notes here.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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Okay. That is great to hear because there is worry and it is amazing the number of people------

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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It is important to note that route 64 is not one of the services which was withdrawn and continues to operate as normal.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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Okay, we can take it as a given that it will not happen in the future either.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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I am not the Minister for Transport. I am only reading this note.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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That is all right, go raibh maith agat.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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That is what I have in the note here and if the Senator is happy with that-----

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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I am happy with that. That is great.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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Okay, go raibh maith agat.