Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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1081. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department will restore the subsidy to Irish Rail to pre-crisis levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34314/17]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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1095. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the cost of restoring the CIE subvention to 2008 levels. [34610/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1081 and 1095 together.

The allocation for the Public Service Obligation (PSO) is subject to the annual Budgetary process. As the Deputies are aware, in Budget 2017 I secured an 11% increase in the total amount of funding available to support the delivery of  PSO services. That means that a total of almost €263 million will be allocated in 2017 to support the delivery of these socially necessary but financially unviable services.

In 2016, total funding provided to Iarnród Éireann under the PSO programme increased by approximately 13.5% when compared with 2015, while total PSO funding to the CIÉ group in 2016 increased by 12%, with the result that the three companies received a total of €233million.

Total funding committed toward the PSO programme in 2017 now stands at approximately 85% of the level achieved in 2008, which was the year of record funding, and I have already committed publicly, both here in the House and in the Joint Oireachtas Committee, to further increasing PSO funding in the future as resources allow.

Deputies will be aware that since 2010 there is no subvention paid directly by my Department for public transport services.  The level of compensation provided in relation to PSO services falls under the independent statutory remit of the National Transport Authority (NTA), which has direct responsibility for this area. The funding provided to each operating company relates to the provision of the contracted level of services and must conform to the methodology established by relevant EU legislation.