Public Transport Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-19 ============================================================ Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim Again, I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. I thank Senator O’Loughlin for the opportunity to give an update on the dedicated town bus service for Newbridge. As she said, this is an issue she has raised many times. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority. The NTA works with the public transport operators, which deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. That said, I assure the Senator the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2026, the Department of Transport secured €940 million in funding for public service obligation, PSO, and Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link services, which is an increase from €658 million in 2025. A quick scan of the figures tells me it is an increase of about 40%, so that is substantial. This will further support subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland, while maintaining targeted fares, including initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of nine years, and the young adult card for those aged between 19 and 25 years, as part of the NTA's national fares strategy. The Department continues to engage with the NTA to ensure existing levels of service, resilience and driver shortages are considered and that planning and strategic decisions are informed by both operational and resource considerations. A total of €31 million has been earmarked for continued investment in our rural transport service provision in 2026. This is a 38% increase on last year's funding. The funding ensures the continued delivery of vital transport services across rural Ireland, building on the significant increase in funding in recent years. In County Kildare and south County Dublin, funding for rural transport increased by 31% between 2024 and 2025, boosting passenger numbers by 42%. A great example of this continued investment can be seen in the enhancement of route 892 between Dunlavin and Newbridge, providing peak time and evening services as well as offering improved connectivity to regional bus and rail services in Kilcullen and Newbridge. The NTA's town bus programme is a major initiative aimed at enhancing urban bus services, improving connectivity, reducing car dependency and promoting sustainability. Town bus services are frequent, reliable bus routes operating entirely within large towns and linking key destinations such as town centres, retail areas, schools, workplaces, and medical facilities. They also connect to longer distance bus, rail, and Local Link services, making towns more accessible and integrated with the national transport network. The NTA is in the early stages of planning for a further phase of new or improved town bus services under this programme. It is looking at potential new services in Naas, Newbridge, Tralee, Wexford and Tullamore. The timeline for these new services is dependent on planning, infrastructure development and operator procurement. --- 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/2026-03-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-19