Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

142. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is satisfied with the decision by Dublin Bus not to tender for the outer Dublin metropolitan area routes on the BusConnects network in Dublin; his views on whether the tender on these routes has been awarded to a company (details supplied) notwithstanding the major service delivery problems experienced by that company on its existing routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9526/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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.

The performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place between it and the operators. These contractual arrangements allow for not just the monitoring of performance by the NTA and the publication by it of annual performance reports, but importantly, the contracts also allow for the imposition of financial penalties where performance does not meet the required standard.

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