Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:200. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Transport the estimated cost to restore the CIÉ subvention to 2008 levels. [24796/20]
View answerTuesday, 22 September 2020
Questions (200)
Written answers
As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.
Since 2010, the award of public service obligation (PSO) funding falls under the independent statutory remit of the National Transport Authority (NTA). The allocations to the transport companies are decided by the NTA in exercise of its statutory mandate and in accordance with the various contract arrangements that it has in place with the various PSO service providers, including the operating companies within the CIÉ Group.
The 2008 Exchequer expenditure on PSO was €308.6m. For 2020, the aggregate Exchequer allocation provided under Budget 2020 was €288.7m, but the actual expenditure this year will be far higher than that allocation (and well in excess of the 2008 level) because the Exchequer is making substantial additional funding available for PSO in order to deal with the impact of Covid-19 on the public transport sector.