Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 March 2022
62. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Transport if private coach and bus operators will be included in the scheme to reduce fares by 20% on all public service obligation routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11937/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is strongly committed to helping combat the rising cost-of-living being experienced throughout the country. In this context, a suite of new measures is being introduced by Government to help with this issue, including a 20% average fare reduction on PSO services until the end of 2022. These discounted fares will benefit the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who use PSO public transport every day.
€54m in Exchequer funding has been secured to allow for the introduction of these discounted fares; this funding does not include an extension of the scheme to private coach and bus operators. As the Deputy is aware, unlike with PSO services, the National Transport Authority (NTA) do not set, monitor or regulate fares on services run by commercial operators.
Licensed bus operators are an integral part of the overall public transport system particularly in areas which are not covered by existing public service bus and rail services. In recognition of this, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the Government have provided temporary financial supports for certain licensed commercial services with a view to protecting capacity across the public transport sector throughout the crisis. To date c.€60m has been provided to support the Commercial Bus Operators during this challenging time.
