Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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36. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to update on the CIÉ governance review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36425/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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49. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the proposed timeline for aligning all relevant entities under the CIÉ governance model; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36534/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 49 together.

In 2022, my Department requested NewERA to complete a Phase I review of existing governance arrangements within the CIÉ group, entailing an assessment of the legislation underpinning CIÉ. Subsequently in late 2023, my Department re-engaged NewERA to develop a further Phase II Review into CIÉ Governance Structures, with the aim of making recommendations on ways in which the governance arrangements of the Group could be improved.

The Governance Review of the CIÉ Group includes Iarnród Eireann, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus (together the operating companies), and CIÉ Holding Company. I brought a Memorandum for Information to Government on the 25th June 2025, outlining the review’s conclusions and summarising the next steps currently underway.

The objectives of the Review were to:

• examine in detail the current governance structure of the CIÉ Group;
• assess whether there is a strong case for change to the governance of CIÉ Group; and
• identify, assess, and recommend any preferred, option(s) to enhance the governance of CIÉ Group.

1. My Department will shortly issue a revised CIÉ Shareholder Letter of Recommendation that incorporates the Review's recommendations, in collaboration with NewERA.
2. My Department has initiated quarterly corporate governance meetings with the operating companies.
3. Each operating company is required to submit unaudited interim financial statements for review by NewERA on an annual basis from 2025 onward.
4. The facilitation of increased Director representation through dual appointments on both the parent CIÉ and operating company boards.