Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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603. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of meetings he held with Bus Éireann regarding the Cork PSO routes, or in which these routes were discussed, since taking office. [44162/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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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.

The individual operators are responsible for the management and operation of services on a day-to-day basis. In this case, Bus Éireann operates both Public Service Obligation (PSO) services funded by the State subvention and Expressway intercity services which operate on a commercial basis and do not receive any State subvention.

I can assure you that my Department is committed to providing investment in our public transport network and that I am supportive of the Governments goals in delivering an accessible, affordable and reliable public transport network throughout the country, including in Cork city.

In addition to regular meetings between the Company and officials from my Department, I have met with the Bus Éireann leadership three times since I have taken office, at which a wide range of topics including PSO services were discussed. Further, I am aware that the NTA formally meets Bus Éireann on a regular basis to review performance, associated customer feedback and driver recovery plans.