Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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36. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if any additional funding will be provided to expand Local Link services in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22797/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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This Government is firmly committed to improving public transport across the country and that commitment is demonstrated through the significant investment that has been made in both services and infrastructure in recent years.

As the Deputy will be aware, the key objectives for Local Link include continuing to address rural social exclusion and the integration of Local Link with other public transport services. And I am pleased to say that this Government has invested significantly in these services over its lifetime.

Under Budget 2025, the Department of Transport secured €658.442 million of funding for Public Service Obligation (PSO) and TFI Local Link services (an increase from €613.813 million in 2024). This package includes funding for the continuation of the various fare initiatives, such as the Young Adult Card, and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding has also been provided to extend free child fares on PSO Services to include those aged 5 to 8-years old, and to support the roll-out new and enhanced bus services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland.

Funding for the Rural Transport Programme has increased from €21m in 2019 to €57m in 2024, and over 150 new or enhanced services have been rolled out under the Connecting Ireland programme since 2022.

I am delighted to say that these unprecedented levels of investment have led to an almost tripling of passenger numbers on rural services in the last decade, with 5.8m passengers carried last year, up from 1.76m in 2015.

I firmly believe that expanding the public transport network and increasing service levels throughout the country will lead to more balanced regional development and greater connectivity for all public transport users.

As with all plans, any additional funding for the expansion of Local Link services in County Cork, would be subject to the annual Budgetary and Estimates process.