Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 February 2024
197. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Transport the overall cost in fines paid by Bus Éireann by reason for fine for the PSO contract in Cork city in each of the past five years respectively, in tabular form. [8049/24]
View answerAs 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. 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.
The matter raised by the Deputy is an issue for the NTA in conjunction with Bus Éireann. In light of this I have forwarded the Deputy's question on to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
