Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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114. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for an update on a direct bus route connecting the greater Dublin 15 area with the airport. [38238/24]

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. The NTA has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including BusConnects.

BusConnects Dublin provides for a transformative programme of investments in the city’s bus system including the purchase of new fleet, a network redesign and the provision of 16 Core Bus Corridors (CBCs) to provide bus priority infrastructure.

The 16 CBCs in the BusConnects Dublin programme have been bundled into 12 schemes to assist in the planning application process. Following approval at Approval Gate 1 of the Public Spending Code for the BusConnects Dublin in 2021, the NTA submitted planning applications to An Bord Pleanála in respect of all 12 of the Core Bus Corridor schemes. An Bord Pleanála recently granted planning permission for eight of the CBC’s namely, the Clongriffin, Liffey Valley, Ballymun/Finglas, Belfield/Blackrock, Blanchardstown, Swords, Ringsend and Lucan to City Centre CBCs. Legal proceedings are ongoing in relation to four of these schemes, including the Blanchardstown to city centre CBC, which serves the Dublin 15 area, and the Swords CBC which serves the airport. The NTA are considering how best to respond to these legal challenges.

In the short term, I am pleased to say the NTA are currently in the process of introducing significant improvements to the public transport offering at Dublin Airport as part of the continued roll-out of the BusConnects network redesign. These improvements will see new and enhanced services introduced on a phased basis over this year and into next year, improving connections between the airport and all parts of Dublin – North, South, West and the city centre. This will build on the many buses which depart the airport daily serving passengers in Dublin and across the country.

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