Public Transport
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

I thank Senator Kennelly for raising the important matter of the Local Link, particularly around Abbeydorney. He is right. It is about connectivity and opportunity. It is a success story. As the Senator knows, the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport but we do not have involvement in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for that rests with the National Transport Authority.
The NTA works with the public transport operators, which deliver the services and which have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. In saying that, I reassure the Senator that the Government is strongly committed to providing public transport services in rural areas and piloting new transport initiatives for people of all ages and abilities living in them. With a third of Irish people living outside the cities and main towns, investment in our Local Link rural transport services remains a priority for me, my Department and the NTA.
As the Deputy knows quite well, the rural transport programme, now operating under the Local Link brand, has been providing scheduled and demand-responsive public transport services across the country for many years. Funding for the rural transport programme has increased significantly, from €16 million three years ago to €31 million for 2026.
One of the key plans for enhancing the existing transport network across Ireland falls under the NTA's Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan, which aims to develop an integrated, accessible and sustainable network of public transport offerings across Ireland. Under this hugely successful programme, over 180 new or enhanced services have been rolled out since 2022. These services have connected 240 new towns and villages to the public transport network, with 61 new connections established to healthcare facilities and 41 new connections to higher education facilities. These increased services have led to exponential growth in passenger numbers, which have seen a five-fold increase since 2022, with a record weekly high of over 125,000 passenger journeys recorded in November 2025. We all agree this is a significant number.
Demand-responsive transport, DRT, is important in meeting both transport disadvantage and climate challenges by catering for users with mobility limitations as well as those in dispersed, low-density housing in rural areas. It addresses the point the Senator rightly made, which was that social connection is not a luxury. DRT services, as a concept, have existed in our country for some time. TFI Local Link currently operates approximately 1,000 DRT services. These are primarily focused on providing public transport services in rural or isolated areas, such as the one referred to in Kerry. Users can contact their Local Link office to book a service along a specific route with a specific schedule, typically a day in advance. I take the Senator's point on the twice-per-month arrangement. We will have a chat about that again.
A key objective of Connecting Ireland is to implement non-fixed-route public transport services. As demand for public transport increases, it is important to explore alternative options that complement our existing public transport offerings.
With funding under the Climate Action Fund, the NTA is developing smart DRT services in three locations during 2025 and 2026. The Smart DRT pilot involves the use of technology to provide demand-responsive services that can be offered both on demand and in a pre-planned way. Smart DRT is an enabler of the more efficient use of vehicles. The Anseo app was launched in Achill in July 2025 and is now operational in Killarney and the north east of Limerick city. Unlike the traditional fixed-route services model, the smart DRT model allows passengers to request pick-ups and drop-offs anywhere within the operating zone, offering greater flexibility and accessibility.
Earlier this month, the NTA also announced the phased introduction of contactless payments on TFI Local Link services, beginning with a pilot in Tipperary, a major milestone in improving accessibility and convenience.
To go back to the Senator's fundamental point, it is a matter of local need and community response. I will certainly relay to the Minister the Senator's concerns regarding the lack of a service in Abbeydorney. I look forward to engaging further with the NTA and the Senator on the matter.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:27+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11