353. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Transport further to Parliamentary Question No. 205 of 6 May 2026, to state plainly the circumstances where passenger service vehicles that do not fall under the scope of supports provided by the NTA or DEY may be eligible for support under the RTSS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37010/26]

The Road Transport Support Scheme (RTSS) is a package of supports primarily directed at the road transport sector given its importance to the wider supply chain, businesses and communities throughout Ireland. The scheme was brought to Cabinet on Tuesday, 28 April and details of the scheme were announced at a press conference on Wednesday, 29 April and will be administered by my Department.

The RTSS will be backdated to 01 March 2026 to each qualifying haulage or coach operator. The scheme will remain in place for three months. Payments will be made for April and May if the national average price of diesel exceeds €1.90 per litre in either month, as measured by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

As payments will be backdated to 01 March 2026, all applicants must meet the following conditions as of that date:

• be the holder of a road haulage operator licence issued by the Department of Transport; or

• where the applicant is not normally required to hold a road haulage operator licence, an operator whose normal commercial activity relates to the carriage of goods by road; or

• be the holder of a passenger operator licence issued by the Department of Transport.

In all cases, payments will only be made to operators where the vehicle for which they seek support is registered on the Department of Transport's National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF) database, with motor tax paid and with a valid Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Testing (CVRT) certificate.

As previously indicated in my response of 6 May 2026, passenger service vehicles that do not fall under the scope of supports provided by the NTA or Department of Education and Youth may be eligible for support under the RTSS. Applications for support will be considered on a case-by-case basis. This will be necessary given the complexity of most passenger service providers business models where the same operator may provide services under local link services, school transport services, and on a commercial basis. Licensed road passenger companies that do not provide school transport or local link services will not be excluded from the scheme provided they meet all other eligibility criteria.

Applications for the RTSS will open very shortly and the application process will contain further detail on eligibility.