Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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55. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to improve the frequency of the bus service in the Dublin area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55883/22]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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87. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the additional supports he is providing to the National Transport Authority and Dublin Bus to ensure peak-time bus services are increased to meet the recent increase in demand. [55749/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 87 together.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators.

In addition, since 2010, the award of Public Service Obligation (PSO) funding falls under the independent statutory remit of the National Transport Authority (NTA). The allocations to the transport operators for the provision of public transport services are decided by the NTA in exercise of its statutory mandate and in accordance with the various contract arrangements that it has in place with PSO service providers.

This Government is firmly committed to enhancing and expanding our public transport services provision across the country. To support this objective, in Budget 2022, I secured c. €538m of funding for PSO and Local Link services provided by State operators and under contract by the NTA this year. The recently agreed Budget 2023 further helps to support this aim, with a €563million funding package secured to support the PSO services next year.

In light of the Authority's responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputies questions in relation to public transport bus frequency, to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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56. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the steps his Department is taking to meet the NX bus route demand. [55581/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators.

In light of the Authority's responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's question in relation to the Bus Éireann Navan NX route, to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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57. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the way the decision to extend the contract of bus services (details supplied) by 12 months was reached, given the companies serial fines for missing service targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55760/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. Under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 it is a statutory function of the National Transport Authority (NTA) to procure public transport services by means of Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts.

In light of the Authority's responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's specific question in relation to Go Ahead Ireland, to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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58. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the measures his Department is taking to ensure bus services in Dublin are adequately staffed and buses run as scheduled. [55748/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators.

Many operators in the sector are experiencing difficulties with staffing difficulties both as a result of COVID-19 related absences and also difficulties in recruiting new drivers.

The NTA is working with operators to try and mitigate the impacts through –

- Recruitment campaigns in recent months with significant numbers of additional drivers expected once required training and tests are completed and licenses issued by the RSA;

- NTA engagement with the RSA to try and expedite the testing and licence process for new bus drivers;

- NTA working with operators to minimise service cancellations, ensure first- and last- service buses operate and on low-frequency routes to avoid, where possible, the cancellation of consecutive low frequency services.

Further, as part of the NTA’s contractual performance monitoring system with operators, issues of poor reliability and punctuality performance can result in financial penalties for those operators.

Operators are forecasting significant improvements in reliability in the coming months, dependent on successful recruitment and retention of critical staff, in particular drivers. It is hoped that this will resolve the reliability issues currently being experienced.