Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2019
555. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the proposed improvements that will take place in rural public transport arising from the undertaking in the budget speech of the Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform to tackle climate change by investing in our rural transport network (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42091/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. It also has responsibility for integrated local and rural transport, including management of Local Link services.
Public transport in rural areas of the country is primarily provided by bus and coach services, as well as rail and small public service vehicles (SPSV) services, which include Taxi, Hackney and Local Area Hackney services.
The bus and coach services include Public Service Obligation (PSO) services operated by Bus Éireann and other operators, Bus Éireann Expressway services, licensed services provided by commercial operators and Local Link services. These services comprise conventional fixed services with regular routes, stopping places and timetables and Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services which respond to local demands and which constitute the majority of Local Link services.
As I have outlined previously, I am committed to the further development of public transport in rural areas and that is why funding has been increased over the past number of years, for both PSO and Local Link services. For example, there has been a substantial increase in funding for Local Link services since 2016, going from €12.2 million in 2016 to €21 million this year. This significant level of investment will continue in 2020.
This level of investment in Local Link services has enabled the introduction of new regular commuter services and improvements to demand responsive services, as well as the introduction of new evening and night-time services across all counties. Key features of these developments include greater integration with existing public transport services and better linkage of services between and within towns and villages.
In addition to its initiatives to improve Local Link services, the NTA has also designed initiatives to cultivate the provision of SPSV services in some rural areas. Ireland has a dispersed settlement pattern and low population densities in rural areas presents a challenge to the sustainable provision of such services. The NTA launched a new Pilot Local Area Hackney Scheme in August, seeking applications for the provision of a local area hackney service in a number of designated areas nationwide. A Pilot Community Car Scheme is expected to be announced later this year.
The NTA is continually working with Bus Éireann to provide improvements on its PSO services, including improvements to many non-urban services. Over 100 stage carriage & rural routes are operated by Bus Éireann, generally linking a series of settlements of various sizes in a particular region. The scope and scale of the changes implemented recently or planned for the remainder of 2019/early 2020, include improvements to its city and town services and non-urban networks, including improvements to the Mullingar and Dundalk Commuter services, Ballina-Westport-Galway Corridor, Ballina-Sligo-Enniskillen Corridor, West Cork Network, Connemara Network, East and West Clare Networks, Kerry Network, Dundalk to Drogheda linking coastal villages and M11 Corridor. Network changes being implemented on stage carriage services focus on delivering enhanced frequency throughout the day with earlier/later departures, more frequency, increased weekend services including on Sundays/Public Holidays.
Finally, the Programme for a Partnership Government undertakes to examine how best to improve integration of services in the rural bus network within regions. This matter is being examined and developed by my Department in the context of the wider work on which it has embarked around a review of public transport (Sustainable Mobility) policy, which is another commitment in the Programme for Government. I will be launching a public consultation shortly seeking the views of all stakeholders. I look forward to receiving the views of members of the House regarding all aspects of sustainable mobility, including in relation to both climate change and rural transport.
