Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to set out his policy on improving public transport in rural areas; and if he will outline any planned investments or service expansions. [37624/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I recognise the importance of boosting connectivity in rural Ireland. In the new Programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, this Government has committed to continuing the roll-out of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, and the continued investment in new town bus services.

Under Budget 2025, the Department has secured a funding package of €658.442 million 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 of new and enhanced bus services under programmes such as BusConnects, Connecting Ireland and new town services. As is the case with all such measures, these services will form part of the ongoing budgetary discussions for 2026.

I think the Deputy will agree with me when I say that the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan has been a huge success, with over 175 new or enhanced services introduced since 2022. This means that over 240 towns and villages have been connected to the public transport network, and approximately 600,000 people have access to new and enhanced bus services.

61 new connections have been provided to healthcare facilities, 41 new connections to higher education facilities and 71 of the new and enhanced services provide connections with existing rail services. Almost 8 million passenger journeys were carried on Connecting Ireland services in 2024.

There has been considerable investment in services throughout the country under Connecting Ireland, including in County Offaly, with the commencement of the new Route 815 between Athlone and Tullamore, which now operates five daily return services Monday to Sunday with an additional late evening service operating from Thursday to Sunday, with improved connectivity to both Tullamore and Athlone Train Stations, as well as Athlone TUS, Tullamore Hospital and other regional bus services along its route.

2025 is the fourth year of the five-year Connecting Ireland plan and more new and enhanced bus services are planned throughout rural Ireland for 2025 and 2026. As with all such measures, an increase in funding for all public transport services, including for rural transport, will be considered in the upcoming Budget 2026 discussions, which is an annual process.

The rollout of the current phase of the Towns Bus Programme for new towns is expected to conclude in late 2026. As part of this phase, new town services have been launched in Carlow and Portlaoise, with Mullingar, Ennis and Letterkenny town bus services due to launch during 2025 and 2026, subject to final confirmation of funding availability during the upcoming Budget 2026 discussions.

Finally, a new Smart Demand Responsive Transport (SDRT) pilot scheme commenced in Achill in July 2025 and in Killarney Town in August 2025, with a further location to be announced by the end of this year.

This Government's dedication to enhancing public transport is evident in the major investment made across services and infrastructure in recent years. I strongly believe that expanding the network and increasing service levels nationwide will improve regional balance and strengthen connectivity for all users.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. The NTA also has national responsibility for integrated local and rural transport, including TFI Local Link services and the rollout of services under the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan.

In light of the NTA's responsibilities for public transport service expansions in rural areas, I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.