Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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198. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details of the rural transport programme, including the cost of the programme and the annual capital investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23799/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My Department is strongly committed to improving public transport services in rural areas and to piloting new transport initiatives for people of all ages and abilities living there.

My Department and the National Transport Authority (NTA) are supporting this by providing increased funding for enhancing TFI Local Link services, for both regular "timetabled" services, and "door-to-door" demand responsive transport (DRT) services as well. There has been a substantial increase in funding allocated for TFI Local Link services since 2016, going from €12.2 million in 2016 to €43m in 2023.

The additional funding has enabled the introduction of over 100 new Rural Regular Service routes, as well as improvements to DRT services. The new Rural Regular Services operate at least five times per day over a 5,6,7 days per week schedule. They are specifically designed to ensure connectivity with other public transport services and better linkage of services between and within towns and villages. Additionally, we will also be exploring the expansion of non-conventional modes of transport to give the public a well-rounded transport offering. The total TFI Local Link Rural Transport Programme capital allocation for 2023 is €1.325million.

In addition to the Rural Transport Programme funding, there is also c. €12m of a current and capital allocation in place to support the continued roll-out and expansion of the Connecting Ireland and New Town Services programme.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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199. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the annual costs of PSO funding for all transport services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23800/23]

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.

This Government is firmly committed to enhancing and expanding our public transport services provision across the country. To support this objective, in Budget 2023, I secured a €563.55 million funding package to support the PSO services.

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.

Therefore, in light of the NTA's responsibility in this matter, I have forwarded the Deputy's question in relation to the annual costs of PSO funding for all transport services, to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.