Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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136. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on and response to a report from an organisation (details supplied) outlining the actions required to support the private bus and coach sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34903/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Firstly, I would like to reassure the Deputy that both the National Transport Authority (NTA) and my Department have been engaging directly with commercial bus operators throughout the crisis to help inform policy decisions in relation to the public transport sector as we continue to deal with the impact of Covid-19.

In this context, both the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media and my Department have been liaising with the Coach Tourism &Transport Council of Ireland (CTTC) since May 2020 - to date 16 meetings have taken place, and a further meeting is scheduled in the coming weeks. While the specific report referred to by the Deputy has not been shared with my Department, I would like to assure the Deputy that the CTTC has kept my Department fully appraised of the issues facing the sector throughout the crisis. I am aware of the very difficult business environment that the commercial operators have been facing. Indeed, across Government we are acutely aware that the Covid-19 situation presents huge challenges for many business sectors.

Public transport is a key facilitator of interaction in the economy and society. It is an efficient and sustainable way of getting people to work, education, shopping and other social engagements. The essential nature of these services has been acknowledged a number of times by the Government in recent months, most notably in the decision to provide additional funding for public service obligation (PSO) services and the introduction of temporary funding measures for the licensed bus sector.

In June 2020 the Government decided to introduce new, temporary financial support for certain licensed services provided by commercial bus operators to ensure the continued operation of these essential services. The temporary support was initially introduced for a period of 6-months. However, as it remains the case that commercial bus operators are still under severe financial distress due to the fall in passenger numbers and associated drop in fare revenue as a result of Covid-19, on 26 January 2021, Government decided to extend the temporary funding supports for the licensed bus sector for a further period of 3 months, with an option to extend contracts on a monthly basis thereafter.

In relation to coach tourism - a fund of €10m was made available under the 2020 July Stimulus package to assist the Coach Tourism sector. The Coach Tourism Business Continuity Scheme is administered by Fáilte Ireland and is under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin.