The Deputy is likely aware that rural Ireland is served by two types of public transport bus services. The first type is those services which are funded by the Exchequer through either the Public Service Obligation or the Rural Transport funding programmes. In Budget 2017 I secured an 11% cumulative increase in the amount of funding available for both programmes which will underpin the delivery of new and improved taxpayer funded bus services across rural Ireland. I have also committed publicly to further increasing the funding of those programmes in the future as resources allow.
The second type of bus services in rural Ireland are those commercial bus services provided by operators under licence from the National Transport Authority pursuant to the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009. While public commentary tends to focus on these services in the context of the major inter-urban routes, commercial bus services also frequently connect rural towns and villages across the State. In 2015 around 23 million people travelled on a commercial bus service, which represents approximately 9% of all public transport journeys that year.
I have repeatedly assured rural Ireland that the National Transport Authority has the statutory powers available to it to ensure continued public transport connectivity for communities who may lose services in cases where a commercial operator introduces service changes. In its recent response to proposed Expressway route changes announced by Bus Éireann, the NTA has utilised these statutory powers through for example announcing increased PSO services and amending the scheduling of existing rural transport services in order to address identified transport needs caused by the Expressway changes.
In relation to the specific routes raised by the Deputy, Bus Éireann does not serve Borris-in-Ossory or operate between Athy and Kilkenny.
The NTA's National Journey Planner indicates that Borris-In-Ossory is currently served by two private commercial bus operators, one connecting the town with Dublin Airport and the other a local service linking into Portlaoise. In relation to connections between Athy and Kilkenny I understand there is both a commercial bus service and a PSO bus service using the N78, while both places are of course also served by the PSO supported rail link.
