Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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77. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will extend the 20% fare reduction to commercial bus operators; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55359/22]

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 responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under public service obligation (PSO) contracts.

Commercial bus and coach operators are an integral part of the overall public transport system in Ireland. The Government has continued to provide temporary financial supports throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, with a view to protecting capacity across the public transport sector throughout the crisis.

The 20% fare-reduction initiative was introduced as part of a suite of Government measures to help combat the rising cost of living. The fare reduction was rolled out to all Public Service Obligation (PSO) services outside the Greater Dublin Area from the 11th of April and nationwide from the 9th of May. These discounted fares will benefit the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who use PSO public transport every day in 2022. The fare reduction is funded until the end of this year; however, the funding allocation does not include an extension of the scheme to commercial operators.

Unlike with PSO services, the National Transport Authority (NTA) do not set, monitor or regulate fares on services run by commercial operator, which are set by the individual operators.

While it is not currently intended to include the commercial operators as part of the 20% average fare initiative, it should be noted that the Young Adult Card which was initially introduced on PSO services on the 9th of May was extended to participating commercial bus operators on the 4th of September.