Little or no funding has been provided for new services across the country. Minister says bus route rollout is subject to funding, but TDs point out that the Minister and the Government control the funding.After months of trying to hold the line that the Government was focused on prioritisation and stabilisation of bus route funding, the Minister of Transport has finally clearly admitted in the Dil that the delay in rollout of new services comes down to money.The Minister for Transport, Darragh OBrien, also repeatedly stated that base funding for Public Obligation Services (PSO) is up 43%, up to 940 million, but the problem is that the Government has effectively pulled funding for planned new services across Ireland in 2026. Last Thursday, the issue of funding for buses was raised by two TDs in the Dil.Dublin TD Roderic OGorman (Green Party) asked the Minister for Transport about the planned roll-out of the N8 orbital route planned to link the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Dublin Airport, and Clongriffin, while Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore (Social Democrats) asked the Minister about the rollout of the planned Local Link 199 service, which is to serve on the route from Glendalough to Bray.Written parliamentary answers published on the same day, in response to Dublin TD Eoin Broin (Sinn Fein) and to Cork TD John Paul OShea (Fine Gael), were less direct. Even when OShea asked directly for an outline of the funding that was allocated in Budget 2026 for the rollout of new rural bus routes as part of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, he was given the run-around with 250 words provided without a direct answer.On the Local Link 199 bus, Deputy Whitmore said: It was actually meant to start last September. A bus has been purchased for it. Drivers are in place. The community really needs this bus service up and running. There is very much a lack of clarity because the Government says one thing and the NTA says the other. Can we have a start date for this service this morning?Minister OBrien said There has been considerable investment in services throughout the country under the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan. I think everyone agrees that it has been a real success I am pleased to state that passengers are responding to this continued investment, with TFI Local Link services recording a combined 6.97 million passenger journeys just last year, marking a record and a 19% increase on the previous year. That is just short of 7 million journeys.The Minister said: The PSO allocation, as I mentioned earlier, has risen to 940 million. That is 43% up on 2025s allocation. I want that on a sustainable footing; I do not want to have to go back looking for supplementary funding every year. That is a record level of funding we have provided, and that underpins the new routes we have brought forward. It is a priority to roll out the 199 service, which is part of the NTAs service plan. The service is subject to the same considerations around funding.He said: To be straight, I expect that, as part of the Estimates process, with the additional funding we will receive, routes like the 199 service will operate from early next year.Deputy Whitmore said: I do acknowledge that the Minister is trying to give a realistic date The difficulty, however, is that I was told in May last year that this service was funded, that the money was there for it. It was tendered, and it was contracted. There is a bus sitting in Clonshaugh in Dublin, empty, not running, waiting to be used on this service. Four drivers have been hired for this service. Everything is ready to go, and I do not understand how that funding is no longer there.She said that the Ministers response was just not good enough and does not cut it as people had already made life decisions based on the bus launch last SeptemberDeputy Whitmore added: Because we are coming into the start of a new school year and a new college year, I ask that the Minister try to find that funding for just four months of the year to get this running. It is ready to go. Literally, the bus is sitting there. I ask the Minister to try to find that funding to bridge that gap.The Minister confirmed that he knows that the bus has been purchased. Promising to look at rolling the bus out sooner, he said: I know that thebusis purchased. People have been employed. If we can get it started earlier, we will do soOn the N8, Deputy OGorman said: I want to tie down a commitment the Minister made on a previous occasion that the route will be up and running by the end of this year.Minister for Transport, OBrien said: That is what we are hoping to do. I want to again make it clear that the NTA is responsible for the provision, scheduling and timetabling of public transport services nationwide. The Deputy knows that. It works with operators to deliver these services.I mentioned in response to earlier questions that we have secured a significant uplift in PSO funding, a 42% increase. I do not want to get back into supplementary budgets every year to provide services. We need certainty. The N8 route is planned to be implemented as part of phase 9 of the BusConnects Dublin network redesign programme. The exact implementation date for the route will be determined by funding provisions and operational readiness, he said.He said: I still think we will be on track for later this year or early next year to roll out the service. If we can do it any sooner we will.OGorman said that in 2024, he was told it would be in place in 2025, and in 2025, he was told it would be in 2026. He said: I am a bit concerned about what the Minister has said because I do not feel he was quite as committed to getting the route delivered this year.OGorman said: I know he does not run the opening of individual routes day-to-day, but he is responsible for the money. I am unclear why the Minister is asking whether the money will be ready this year. He is the person with responsibility for whether there is money to deliver the N8 from Blanchardstown to Dublin Airport in 2026, to which he has committed.Minister OBrien said: In this years budget, we were able to secure 1.6 billion to run our public transport network. We have about 960 million in PSO, up 42% on the previous year, which gives us a much higher base. This year has been very much about stabilising.OGorman said: Again, it comes down to the question of money and providing financial backing to open these new services.Minister OBrien agreed and said: It does come down to money. The Deputy is absolutely right. When I came into the Department of Transport we were very short of money, including PSO funding. Over the term of the previous Government, every year there was a supplementary budget, that is, additional moneys added at the end of every year. We could not plan new services properly. My big focus this year was securing an increase of 43%, up to 940 million. That is a much higher base which means we move into next year with a higher level of funding to provide new services.