Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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352. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the concerns regarding the possible loss of the Bus Éireann Dublin/Monaghan/Derry service; if this cross-Border service will be maintained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12735/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​I am of course aware that Bus Éireann has recently announced possible service alterations to a small number of Expressway services, including route 33 Dublin to Derry.

The Deputy is no doubt aware, that Expressway services are commercial services operated by Bus Éireann and licensed under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009. These routes are not eligible for any taxpayer funding and frequently operate in competition with other commercial licensed operators.

As I have stated on numerous occassions, in cases where a commercial operator, such as Expressway, decides to alter or withdraw a route, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has the statutory powers available to it to respond as appropriate to ensure continued transport connectivity.

In response to Bus Éireann's recent announcement service changes, the NTA has published an assessment of the proposed changes and indicated what action it believes is necessary to ensure that continued connectivity.

As indicated in that published assessment, the NTA does not believe that connectivity issues arise on the route 33 corridor following the proposed withdrawal of Expressway's route 33. In publishing its assessment the NTA has invited feedback on its proposals. A copy of their assessment is available on www.nationaltransport.ie

I am informed that following changes to the Expressway route 33, cross border services along the Dublin/Monaghan/Derry corridor will continue to operate on the following routes-

- Expressway's route 32 services serving Dublin to Letterkenny (with connections possible at Strabane for onward journey to Derry);

- Translink's X3 services serving Dublin to Derry;

while county Monaghan itself is also served by -

-A private licensed operator serving Monaghan to Dublin; and

- Bus Éireann PSO routes providing regional connectivity with Cavan, Dundalk and Drogheda.