Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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242. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will engage with the NTA prior to the renewal of a service contract for a company (details supplied) to discuss performance-related provisions in the contract terms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34359/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you, Deputy, for your question. The performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the National Transport Authority (NTA), and the contractual arrangements put in place allow for financial penalties where performance does not meet the required standard, including services operated by Go-Ahead.

Regarding your specific question about engagement with the NTA prior to contract renewal, the NTA has indicated that they will collaborate with Go-Ahead to further enhance service reliability, and they are monitoring performance issues which will inform future service improvements. Additionally, the new contract includes enhanced performance standards aimed at improving service across routes.

Following an open competitive tendering process, Go-Ahead was identified as the preferred tenderer for the retendered contract. This new contract will commence on 21st October 2025 for an initial period of five years, with an option to extend by a further two years.

I have been advised that the overall performance of Go-Ahead Ireland over the lifetime of the contract in delivering reliable services has been good and compares favourably with other operators including Dublin Bus. Recent customer satisfaction surveys show overall satisfaction with Go-Ahead services in Dublin scoring highly, and above other large bus operators operating services on behalf of the NTA.

Despite the recent challenges, which have improved significantly, the NTA believe that Go-Ahead has the capacity and capability to deliver the services, and the strengthened performance obligations in the new contract will support this.

Further in line with the Programme for Government commitment to “enhance and support the delivery of a skilled workforce to maintain and operate public transport vehicles”, my Department has established a taskforce dedicated to identifying solutions to address the ongoing workforce challenges for operators such as Go-Ahead to assist their service delivery.