Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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698. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the proposals his Department is working on in conjunction with the NTA to deliver on action points 250 to 254 of the action plan for rural development to work with rural communities to assess and implement improvements to existing rural transport routes and develop new rural transport routes as necessary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4108/17]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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701. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the proposals his Department is working on in conjunction with the NTA to deliver on action points 250 to 254 of the action plan for rural development to work with rural communities to assess and implement improvements to existing rural transport routes and develop new rural transport routes as necessary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4250/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 698 and 701 together.

My Department provides funding for the Rural Transport Programme (RTP) to the National Transport Authority (NTA) which has national responsibility for integrated local and rural transport, including management of the RTP.

Budget 2017 provided for a €2 million increase in funding to this Programme this year, which is part of an overall increase of €31 million for public transport services in the Budget. The increase in RTP funding brings the total allocated to the Programme in 2017 to some €14 million. This increased level of funding for the RTP will enable a continuation of the process already underway of making improvements to existing services and developing new routes.

Responsibility for the implementation of action no. 250 of the Action Plan for Rural Development is matter for the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional and Gaeltacht Affairs, in conjunction with local authorities. The review of public transport policy, including the rural transport dimension to ensure it meets the needs of rural communities, under action no. 251 of the Action Plan will be initiated shortly by my Department and will be conducted in consultation with the NTA and other key stakeholders.

Action nos. 252 to 254 of the Action Plan fall to the NTA to implement, given its responsibility to manage the RTP and I have referred this aspect of your question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within 10 working days.