The reality is that there are significant services from Galway to Dublin Airport, such as the Citylink services, of which the Deputy will be aware.

They are very significant in number and, therefore, we are not going to see that connectivity completely disappear. The Deputy is right. The Aircoach service was there replacing that Bus Éireann service and in both instances the demand was not there. It is a commercial decision. If Aircoach was seeing large passenger numbers, it would obviously not be stopping the route. I expect the NTA to have that response to the Deputy's question within a short number of months. Typically, the analysis will be done, the pattern…

First, with regard to rural public transport services, there has never, in the history of the State, been a Government that has been so committed to expanding rural bus and rural public transport services. In the past two years, every week we have introduced a new or enhanced rural public transport service and we have seen-----

-----a spectacular increase in demand for rural public transport services. I will happily compare our record in that regard with any other country or any other time in Irish history where there has been such an expansion of rural public transport services.

Regarding the airport service, we will, as I said, carry out an assessment, as the Deputy said, with GoBus and Citylink. It will be very extensive. We are investing to improve Irish Rail services connectivity between Galway and Dublin-----

-----so that there is a major enhancement and expansion of public transport services. We have to look to see even in that instance where the services are best deployed. If there is a need for a PSO intervention, a gap in the market where there is not an existing service, or where commercial services have not delivered, we will look at that-----

-----but depicting it as no service or a lack of new rural public transport services is not accurate.

I thank the Deputy for his question on this project, which I know is of real interest to him. Approximately €411 million of Exchequer capital funds has been provided for national roads through Transport Infrastructure Ireland to local authorities this year. Of this, approximately €57 million was included for both Cork city and county to advance the roads projects in the region. I am pleased to advise that an allocation of €300,000 has been made available for the Mallow relief road. This scheme consists of a bypass …

There is no intention to delay the project. I do not have any evidence that insufficient funding was provided for any reason. TII has to make the decision on the necessary allocations. There may sometimes be differences between what a council and TII consider should be the next allocation expenditure. TII has the real expertise and responsibility in this area. The allocation was made to be able to do the necessary work to advance the project. There is nothing else intended in that regard. I do not have details as t…

Some €7 million was returned last year to the Exchequer but €2.7 billion was spent.

Yes, out of €2.7 billion.

With regard to the ordering of projects, the reality is we have approximately €35 billion within the NDP for a whole variety of projects, from public transport and active travel to roads.

We have €100 billion worth of projects. The timing of any one project and the necessity to expand or spend further funding on any project are matters for agencies such as TII, which often have a whole range of different projects to advance. In truth, some projects get stuck in the planning system. The biggest delays in projects are caused by judicial reviews or where further information is required or due to other conditions of the planning system. In that regard, if additional funding or finance is needed, to answ…

The Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options and the enhancement of public transport offerings is key to that goal. As Minister for Transport, my responsibility is to direct policy and overall funding related to public transport. With respect to services in County Cork, it is the NTA that has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally, including the roll-out of TFI Local Link service…

We have already significantly enhanced some of the services to Macroom. West of there, route 257, which was part of the first phase of Connecting Ireland and goes all the way to Millstreet, was introduced in December 2022 and the patronage in the following year increased by 112%. I agree with the Deputy about the demand that is there. With regard to the section east of Macroom and extending to Cork and beyond, I agree there is a demand for a service on that route. Our job in the Department is very much to provide t…

I agree with both Deputies on the points made. I argue that there are two key constraints to what we all want, which is a major expansion of public transport services in Cork county and city, as well as in the rest of the country. The first is a budget constraint. Even with the significant resources provided, the truth is that we are going to have to make difficult decisions because everywhere is now looking for further and enhanced services, correctly so. That is why it is very important that we prioritise public …

The second issue is resources, as Deputy Gould said. There is a real problem in Cork, not just with drivers but also mechanics. We have a real challenge and it is a question of how we address that. Obviously, we will try to get the people but the other way to address it is by providing the bus priority.

BusConnects in Cork would get the priority out to Ballincollig, which could get the service improvements to Macroom, as well as addressing the problems in the city. It is our job to give prioritisation to public transport on the road to help to solve that problem. I am sorry if I am over the time.

I had thought the question referred to an uneven allocation from year to year and I did not realise it was specifically about the northside versus the southside of Cork. I will come to the details of that in my supplementary reply and I will first give the original written response. I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to active travel, which is administered through the National Transport Authority. In partnership with local authorities, the NTA has responsibility for the selection and d…

I assure the Deputy that there is no intention whatsoever to disadvantage the northside of Cork city versus the southside. If there are particular projects on the southside or elsewhere that are being advanced faster, that is a matter for Cork City Council in conjunction with the NTA. There is no Government strategy to try to disadvantage one versus the other. I will make a general point. This is an issue for Cork City Council. Decisions around which projects are advanced and, therefore, which will get money are ma…