116. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport if he will acknowledge the importance of having new rural local link bus routes in Carlow incorporate all population centres, including villages such as Ardattin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46372/26]

As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport I recognise the vital role that enhanced connectivity plays in supporting communities across rural Ireland, including in Carlow.

I am delighted to say that there has been considerable investment in services throughout the country in recent years under the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, supported by funding allocated by the Department of Transport. In Counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Wicklow in particular, funding has increased by 24% from 2024 to 2025 to over €4.5m, boosting passenger numbers by 80%.

A great example of this continued investment can be seen with the enhancement of Route 880 between Carlow and Naas. This increased service levels by 58% to 98 trips per week. The services offer connectivity to local train services, along with peak time arrivals into both Carlow and Naas to accommodate employment and education needs along with evening and weekend schedules to provide people with sustainable access to their social activities.

To date under the Connecting Ireland programme upwards of 600,000 people now have access to useful daily public transport services for the first time. Another great example is the widely popular Carlow Town Bus Service that commenced in July 2023 with two dedicated routes operating seven days a week. 94% of Carlow town's population are now within an 800-metre walk of a bus stop.

As part of wider investment in rural public transport; smart demand responsive pilots are underway in 3 areas – Achill, Killarney and Limerick. The outcome of these pilots will help determine the planning, approach to and roll out of next generation demand responsive services in rural areas in the future, in particular for more remote areas, villages and settlements where a more flexible and responsive model of public transport is more appropriate to the demand and settlement pattern to provide access to local services and the wider public transport network.