As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport in Ireland. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the allocation of associated funding to the relevant transport operators.
The report referred to by the Deputy in his question is part of the N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction project. Arup are in the process of finalising the Route Options Selection Report which will be published in September. This will be available on the project website, and in addition to information on the Preferred Transport Solution for the N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction project, it will contain the full details regarding the impact on rail usage and the supporting details behind the analysis that has taken place. It would be inappropriate to comment further on the matter before the publication of the report.
Since 2010, the award of Public Service Obligation (PSO) funding falls under the independent statutory remit of the National Transport Authority (NTA). The allocations to the transport operators for the provision of public transport services are decided by the NTA in exercise of its statutory mandate and in accordance with the various contract arrangements that it has in place with PSO service providers. The funding allocation for PSO public transport services for 2023 will be subject to the annual Budgetary process and therefore the allocations for 2023 are yet to be determined in the context of future Estimates processes.
In light of the Authority’s responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's specific question in relation to the allocation of PSO funding for 2023 for the introduction of additional rail services on the Limerick to Ballybrophy line and the Waterford to Limerick line to the NTA for direct reply.
Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
