Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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250. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated cost of including coaches and buses in the €100 emergency support scheme that has been introduced for licensed hauliers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16469/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As the Deputy will be aware, a whole of Government approach is being adopted with regard to the Ukrainian crisis. I am pleased to advise that a high-level group has been established in the Department of Transport to monitor and respond as appropriate to the crisis and its impact on the transport sector. The group is informed by other Government Departments, agencies and key transport stakeholders and seeks to ensure a coordinated response to the evolving situation.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally, and for the allocation of associated funding to the relevant transport operators.

Licensed bus and coach operators are an integral part of the overall public transport system particularly in areas which are not covered by existing public service bus and rail services. In recognition of this, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the Government have provided temporary financial supports for certain licensed commercial services with a view to protecting capacity across the public transport sector throughout the crisis.

The temporary support was initially introduced for a period of 6-months in June 2020, however owing to the continued impact of Covid-19 on passenger numbers and the associated drop in fare revenue, these supports have been extended a number of times. Over €60 million has been provided to the sector to date. In acknowledgment of the continuing difficulties facing this sector, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I recently approved an extension of the supports for a further 3 months, up to the 30 June 2022.

As the Deputy is aware, fuel costs have increased substantially since the commencement of the Scheme in June 2020, and I wish to confirm that the NTA has funded the Operators for actual fuel costs throughout this period and will continue to do so throughout the extension of the Scheme.

Moreover, to ensure the continued operation of public transport services in rural parts of Ireland, the NTA have recently provided an additional level of subvention to support Local Link operators in the delivery of these services. These are provided to operators who are on fixed rate contracts and therefore are receiving no further increases to their base contracted rates. Currently, the funding has been provided to cover the costs for Quarter 1 2022. This is a once off payment initially, and the situation will be monitored on an ongoing basis.

Given the NTA's statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally, I have also referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct reply. I ask the Deputy to please contact my private office if he does not receive a reply within 10 days.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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251. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated cost of including own account HGV operations in the €100 emergency support scheme that has been introduced for licensed hauliers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16470/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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On 15 March 2022, the Government approved an emergency support measure - the Licensed Haulage Emergency Support Scheme to address cost pressures arising from current high fuel prices.

The scheme was developed for licensed hauliers specifically for the reasons outlined below. My Department is aware there are approximately 20,000 own account HGV vehicles, therefore the cost to the Exchequer of including these would be an estimated additional c. €16 million. Any amendments to the scheme would need to be considered in the overall policy and budgetary context.

In deciding on this targeted, temporary scheme, the Government considered that the licensed haulage sector is a specific case for several reasons, primarily that the sector is of national strategic importance as a critical enabler of a functioning supply chain, bringing essential supplies into and around the State, supporting key infrastructure and enabling the maintenance of economic and social activity. In addition fuel represents a greater overall proportion of overhead cost for hauliers than would be the case for other businesses who self-provide transport as part of their wider business.

Given the rapid increase in fuel prices linked to the crisis in Ukraine, the haulage sector reported to the Government a serious risk of cessation of business among haulage companies that would have had significant implications for supply chains into the State, including for essential goods.

You will be aware that on 09 March 2022, in recognition of rising fuel costs for all citizens and businesses, the Government reduced Excise duty by 20 cent per litre of petrol, 15 cent per litre of diesel and 2 cent in the excise duty charged on marked gas oil in order to reduce the cost of fuels.

The Minister for Finance has written to the European Commission to ask what flexibilities might be available on an emergency basis to reduce the tax on fuel. Currently, however, the EU Energy Tax Directive limits the possibility of further reducing the tax on fuel. Specifically, the Directive requires a minimum tax of €0.33 per litre and the measures already decided have reduced the tax on diesel to the minimum.

In general, it should be recalled that the causes of these fuel price pressures are not within the control of Government and are being directly influenced by external factors, including the Ukraine crisis.

The Government has limited resources but through the Excise measure announced on 09 March, as well as the Licensed Haulage Emergency Support Scheme approved on 15 March 2022, it has responded to help to ease the impact of these price increases. However, we must accept that it will not be possible to insulate citizens and businesses from the full impact of these fuel price increases. In providing 8 weeks support with these sudden increased costs, the Government is seeking to cushion the shock of the rapid spike in fuel prices. While it remains to be seen how fuel prices evolve it is imperative that haulage (and other) businesses engage with their customers on the need for the prices for their services to reflect the increasing costs.