John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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118. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the total investment in bus services in each county in each of the years since 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63405/25]

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.

In light of the NTA’s responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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119. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if provision will be made to extend early morning bus services at weekends (details supplied). [63557/25]

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, in this case Dublin Bus.

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.

In light of the above, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to Dublin Bus for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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120. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the number of cancellations by a bus company (details supplied) and Dublin Bus buses in the Dublin mid-west constituency; the efforts his Department is taking to address this level of cancelation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63457/25]

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, in this case Go Ahead and Dublin Bus.

Under existing contractual arrangements, financial penalties are applied by NTA where performance falls below agreed standards, and they are also investing in a new vehicle location system for the fleet which will improve the reliability of the real time passenger information system. They continue to engage with Go-Ahead to enhance service reliability and ensure continuous improvement.

In light of their responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the NTA, Go Ahead and Dublin Bus for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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121. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has been made aware of escalating issues with punctuality and reliability in Cork’s bus service. [63070/25]

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 including management of the Rural Transport Programme (RTP) which operates under the TFI Local Link brand, the implementation of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, and for the scheduling and timetabling of services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators, in this case Bus Éireann.

The performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of their contractual arrangements. These contractual arrangements allow for not just the monitoring of performance by the NTA and the publication by it of annual performance reports, but importantly, the contracts also allow for the imposition of financial penalties where performance does not meet the required standard.

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.

In light of the above, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct response. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.