Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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776. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will increase the subvention to public bus companies in the upcoming budget given the upturn in economic activity and corresponding increased use of public transport, such as last year when 11.7 million bus journeys were taken in Cork, a 7.3% increase on the 10.9 million journeys in 2014 according to the NTA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23426/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Deputy will be aware that this year's total Public Service Obligation (PSO) subvention was increased by 13% when compared to last year and the total amount of money being made available to the National Transport Authority (NTA) in 2016 is €236.6m.

It is the statutory responsibility of the National Transport Authority (NTA) to allocate the funding to the various PSO operators. All PSO services are provided in accordance with public service contracts concluded between the NTA and the relevant operator and all payments must comply with relevant domestic and European legislation.

  As the Deputy has referred to, recently published statistics by the National Transport Authority show an increase in the total number of passenger journeys across our publicly subvented bus service network albeit with some differences across regions. The Deputy highlights the strong growth in Cork last year which indeed has been a feature for the last 3 years in a row.

In terms of the overall PSO subvention available, the recently published Summer Economic Statement outlines the anticipated public expenditure framework over the medium term and I will be engaging with Ministerial colleagues in the coming weeks as Budget 2017 is developed.

Obviously PSO subvention is one relevant area of expenditure which will form part of that engagement. It is of course also an area which requires careful scrutiny to ensure the taxpayer receives value for money in respect of the services delivered given the considerable expenditure incurred.