Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
208. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Transport the number of passengers that used the 109x Dublin to Cavan Bus Éireann route in both directions in of 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3417/22]
View answerWhile most public transport is funded through the National Transport Authority's (NTA) public service obligation (PSO) programme, there is part of the national public transport system that comprises non-subvented services. These non-subvented services are run on a commercial and competitive basis by bus and coach businesses of varying sizes throughout the country.
Bus Éireann operates a substantial PSO business under contract with the NTA, providing subvented bus servcies both in the cities outside Dublin, and in regional and rural locations throughout the country. Bus Éireann also has a separate, commercially-run business, "Expressway", which operates a number of inter-regional bus routes in competition with other, private, commercial operators in the licenced bus market. The 109X Dublin to Cavan service is one of the routes which is operated by Bus Éireann's commercial Expressway business. As such, the query raised does not fall under the remit of my Department and is a matter for the company directly.
