Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 November 2020
121. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Transport the requests for financial support that have been received from public transport companies to date in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37708/20]
View answerThe continued operation of the public transport sector is important and, from a very early stage in the Covid-19 crisis, public transport was designated by Government as among the essential services that could continue throughout the emergency. Guided by public health advice, measures have been introduced across the system to enable the continued operation of services during the pandemic, including enhanced cleaning regimes and appropriate social distancing measures across the network. New Regulations were also introduced making mandatory the wearing of face coverings on public transport, with some limited exceptions.
There is continued strong messaging that public transport capacity remains restricted and, therefore, should only be used for essential travel, with only those who have to travel at peak times doing so. People are being encouraged to walk or cycle where practical, and organisations are encouraged to continue to facilitate working from home.
The Government is also spending considerable additional Exchequer funds on the public transport sector in order to support the continued operation of necessary services, despite the reduced demand and the restricted capacity owing to the Covid-19 situation. The Exchequer is now funding the PSO (public service obligation) regime far in excess of the allocation that had been provided under Budget 2020. In addition, the Government introduced a new temporary funding support for the non-PSO (licensed, commercial) bus sector in respect of its continuation of necessary scheduled bus services. The Government also provided additional funding for enhancements to certain PSO bus services announced under the Stimulus package.
While most public transport in Ireland comprises the bus and rail services funded through the National Transport Authority's (NTA) public service obligation (PSO) programme, there is part of the national public transport system that comprises non-subvented bus services, which are run on a commercial and competitive basis by bus and coach businesses of varying sizes throughout the country.
I want to reassure the Deputy that both the NTA and my Department have been engaging directly with commercial bus operators throughout the crisis to help inform policy decisions in relation to the public transport sector as we continue to deal with the impact of Covid-19. In this context, my Department has been liasing with the Coach Tourism & Transport Council of Ireland (CTTC) since early May - ten meetings have taken place, the most recent being the 6th November 2020.
I am aware of the very difficult business environment that the commercial operators have been facing. Indeed, across Government we are acutely aware that the Covid-19 situation presents huge challenges for many business sectors.
Public transport is a key facilitator of interaction in the economy and society. It is an efficient and sustainable way of getting people to work, education, shopping and other social engagements. The essential nature of these services has been acknowledged a number of times by the Government in recent months, most notably in the decision to provide additional funding for PSO services and the introduction of temporary funding measures for the licensed bus sector as I have outlined.
These temporary funding supports have been introduced to help ease the financial pressure on operators arising from the fall in passenger numbers and associated drop in fare revenue as a result of Covid-19. They are aimed at ensuring the continued operation of essential licensed bus services for a period of up to six months and are targeted at covering the gap between specified costs and the revenues generated on the services. The supports are targeted at those classes of bus services where a clear public interest justification supports such intervention, in line with relevant state aid considerations. The NTA, as the public transport licensing agency, is responsible for administering the funding support through contracts with the relevant operators.
These supports are in addition to the suite of other financial support measures that the Government has introduced to help mitigate the impact of Covid-19, including the pandemic unemployment payment which operators can avail of and which remains open to new applicants until the end of the year and a Covid-19 enterprise support grant which can be put towards the costs associated with reopening a business, including the purchase of cleaning materials and personal protective equipment.
These measures are in addition to rates waivers, lending facilities, equity injection and business advisory supports, all of which will help to improve cash flow. The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has also set up on online tool to help support Irish start-ups and SMEs to navigate the range of Government supports and identify which support may be most relevant to their business.
