Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, for taking the time to be here. This is an ongoing issue. There is a greenway from Midleton to Youghal which is nearly finished. The railway used to go down there. This is about connectivity. I submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister for Transport asking if the National Transport Authority, NTA, or Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, would consider a park-and-ride model of transport to run from Youghal to the train station in Midleton, along the N25, for connectivity. It would service Youghal, Killeagh, Castlemartyr and go into Midleton. Unfortunately, the response I got from the NTA was that, building on the work developed as part of the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy 2040, the park-and-ride design office, PRDO, is carrying out a demand analysis to identify the zones on the main traffic corridors. It goes on to say which bus connects and so on. It states that, based on the work carried out to date, the PRDO is not currently considering a park-and-ride model of transport to run from Youghal to the train station in Midleton and that, instead, the connecting bus or connectivity by public transport to Cork city is best provided by bus and coach services that connect Youghal to Cork.

The buses run from Dungarvan. A bus ticket from Dungarvan to Cork is cheaper than the fare from Youghal to Cork. That is if people can get on the bus at all. It is madness. The problem here is that if five or six people get on the bus in Youghal, it is full and nobody can get on in Castlemartyr or Killeagh. This means children cannot get to school. More important, people have hospital appointments and so on. One family contacted me last week. They had to pay €100 for a taxi to go from Youghal to Cork University Hospital for an appointment.

The funny thing about it was that I have written to TII and the NTA. A report, the metropolitan transport strategy, was published just recently. It mentions connectivity from Cork to Youghal and beyond six times. Even though the greenway has not been opened yet, the strategy talks about connecting Cork city to Youghal by train, eventually going on to Waterford. It also mentions proper connectivity. The all-Ireland review was recently published by the Department of Transport and, as I said, connectivity was mentioned in it. Every time I ask about this, I am told it is not needed. There is talk of people's carbon footprint and so on. That stretch of the N25 is a dangerous road but it is the only way people in the area can travel. Castlemartyr has major tailbacks in both directions because there is a pinch point on the N25. Many more cars could be taken off that road if the NTA invested in one or two additional buses.

It does not make sense for connectivity that on the Cork-Waterford border, there is practically one bus, the Waterford bus, serving Cork city and the entire catchment area from Youghal to Killeagh and Castlemartyr, which drives past Midleton train station, goes on to Carrigtwohill and then on to the city. It is being borne out of frustration for so long. My office staff are getting very frustrated. I understand why the railway did not go there. Development charges have a lot to do with it, as does the lack of industry. It is to be hoped Youghal will pick up on the tourist side of it.

My issue is that it makes common sense to connect Cork with Waterford. It is mentioned six times in the new all-Ireland rail review report. I cannot understand why the bus routes cannot run from Youghal to Midleton. People could buy their tickets in Youghal to go to Cork, the bus would drop them in Midleton, they would go up on the train, do their business, come back down, get off the train, hop on the bus and go back through whatever village they want. Is there any way we can get a quick review of this matter?

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan. I will clarify that 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 rests nationally with the National Transport Authority, NTA. The NTA works with the public transport operators that deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. That said, I reassure the Deputy that 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 2023, the Department of Transport secured €563.55 million in funding for public service obligation, PSO, and Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link services, which is up from €538 million in 2022.

It is also important to note that while the majority of public transport in Ireland is indeed provided by the publicly subvented bus and rail services funded through the NTA’s public service obligation programme, the public transport system also includes a significant number of non-subvented bus services operated on a commercial basis by bus and coach businesses of varying size. Unfortunately, the Deputy's question on capacity issues on public transport between Youghal and Midleton train station in County Cork does not specify whether the bus services in question pertain to Bus Éireann’s PSO route 260 or their commercial Expressway route 40, so I will speak to both.

As the Deputy will be aware, as part of its commercial Expressway business, Bus Éireann operates up to 13 daily services from Youghal to Midleton on route 40. I understand Bus Éireann has advised that the average occupancy on its services from Youghal to Midleton this month has been 22 passengers on vehicles that have a maximum capacity of 53 passengers. In terms of reaching capacity, Bus Éireann has further advised that nine out of its 248 scheduled services from Youghal to Midleton this September have reached capacity. The company encourages customers to book online for the best available fares and to guarantee a seat on their preferred service. The Deputy will appreciate that Expressway, like all other commercial businesses, is responsible for managing its own resources in respect of its commercial services.

Bus Éireann also operates the route 260 Cork to Ardmore via Youghal PSO service, which provides eight weekday services between Youghal and Cork, with six of these serving Midleton. Under the terms of the contract between the NTA and Bus Éireann, there are specific requirements for Bus Éireann’s services along this route regarding routing, scheduling, fleet utilisation and fares. Any issues regarding capacity on the service is an operational matter for the NTA in conjunction with Bus Éireann. Any decisions regarding changes to timetabling and frequency of service on the route are determined by the NTA and subsequently implemented by Bus Éireann in conjunction with the authority.

Notwithstanding the above, I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens, including students, with reliable and realistic transport options. The roll-out of projects such as BusConnects, Connecting lreland, and new town services are among the improvements we are making to achieve our ambitious goals for the sector. I also reassure the Deputy that the Department of Transport, the NTA and our operators are working to ensure the optimised deployment of resources to match changing demand patterns. Where increased passenger demand was evident during the 2022-23 academic year, for example, on several Limerick city, Cork city and commuter and Dublin commuter services, the NTA is working with operators to improve capacity on these routes. With continued investment in public transport services, we can build a more efficient network that provides viable travel options for all, and the Government remains committed to this goal.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response. I had a feeling that was what would come back but I wanted to raise this matter for the following reason. People are going on about the carbon footprint. For one thing, there is a carbon footprint in running 13 daily services from Youghal all the way to Cork city and all the way back. I understand many of these services do not run at peak time but the peak services are probably the most important for connectivity.

The express route is definitely a problem because that is the one that starts early in the morning and is always full because people are getting to school, to their appointments and to the city early. The point I am trying to make is if 13 daily services are in use, and every single one of them are passing Midleton and going another, let us say,13 miles further up the road to the city, would it not make sense to shorten those journeys and have that connectivity coming from Youghal, through Killeagh and Castlemartyr, pulling in the hinterland of the likes of Shanagarry and maybe as far as Ballycotton and so on? It would shorten that journey into the train station. That makes more sense and there would be more connectivity. In fairness, and I always give credit where credit is due, there will be major investment on the Midleton to Cork route. A double line will go in and the frequency will increase. It is an extremely busy rail line as it stands.

I thank the Minister of State for the answer. As I said, it is about how to make the best of the resources we have, when 13 daily services are being run to the city. Bus Éireann said that service has an average of 22 people, although I do not believe that to be honest. I often try to get the bus from Youghal to Midleton and I cannot get on it, even on a Saturday. However, I take the Minister of State's response on board. I will go back to the people who raised this issue. I will flag that I think resources could be used a lot more efficiently on this route. It does not make sense. The connection from Belfast to Derry has a park and ride in the middle of nowhere and it is jammers. It is just about resources.