I thank the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, for sharing his time with me and for the information he has provided to the House today. I reiterate my support for the sector and thank the representative bodies for their ongoing commitment to address the challenges we are facing in a spirit of constructive dialogue and collaboration. The Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, the Coach Tourism and Transport Council, CTTC, and Freight Transport Association Ireland, FTAI, have been working diligently with us and our officials over a long number of weeks to ensure that this support package is brought in and targeted. As the Minister said in his opening remarks, the haulage sector is of national strategic importance and the road transport sector faces a challenging operating environment. Higher prices for hauliers add costs for each and every person in our country. In the four weeks from 2 March to 30 March, diesel prices at the pump rose by approximately 25%. According to industry data, operating margins in the supply chain sector were about 6% in 2025, with fuel costs accounting for approximately 47% of the operational costs for a typical 46-tonne articulated vehicle. When looked at in this light, even a marginal, sudden increase in fuel costs can represent a significant challenge to the liquidity of operators in the haulage and supply chain sectors. This may be even more pronounced for smaller operators, with nearly half of licensed road haulage operators only having one vehicle. Small and medium operators constitute the lifeblood of the road haulage industry. As a result, rising fuel costs mean increased costs for everyone in the supply chain. It is vital, therefore, to minimise the impact of these costs on end consumers. The support scheme will support hauliers and transport operators to absorb some of these additional costs and continue to play their vital role in our economy. By helping our road transport sector, the scheme will also help protect consumers who otherwise would face increased costs across a range of everyday goods and services were the transport sector forced to pass on fuel cost increases to their customers. I know that Deputies want to ensure that nobody is inadvertently left out of the scheme. That is a priority for me and my Cabinet colleagues as well. I will outline those eligible for the support scheme. The scheme will be open to both licensed road haulage operators and the own-account sector, subject to eligibility criteria, where the vehicle is used for the carriage of goods by road. Someone will be able to submit an application for heavy goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes in their fleet, provided the vehicles were in their fleet on 1 March 2026. All operators looking for support will need to be registered in the State, compliant and operating as a going concern for the duration of the scheme. There is no limit to the number of vehicles for which they can apply for support, but verification checks will be conducted to ensure that applications are only made in respect of vehicles that are actively used by operators in the course of their commercial activities. Verification will also be undertaken to ensure that the commercial activity is related to the carriage of goods by road and that the vehicle is roadworthy and compliant with all motor tax requirements for the duration of the scheme. As the scheme is primarily directed at the road transport sector, it will not be open to farmers or the construction sector in respect of machinery used as part of their operations that are fuelled by marked diesel oil or green diesel. They may be eligible for support under the RTSS for other vehicles in their fleets if the vehicles are used for the carriage of goods by road and meet all the eligibility requirements. However, I welcome the €100 million allocated for the fuel subsidy support scheme, FSSS, that is being implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to assist farmers, agricultural contractors and fishers in managing the increased cost of marked gas oil. As a rural TD, I know how higher prices have impacted on these sectors. This scheme will support those people to maintain their essential work across the country. Further information on the eligibility criteria will be made available by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and it is expected that applications for support will be possible in mid-May, with payments to follow thereafter. Although the RTSS is aimed primarily at road transporters, it is important that we also support transport to and from our offshore islands. While the Department of Transport does not look after these services, it is important that the House is aware that the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht supports island communities by providing subsidised ferry, cargo and air services between the islands and the mainland to ensure the continued viability of these communities. In 2025, there were 25 contracts for subsidised passenger and cargo ferry services. These contracts include a fuel price variation clause, which will be activated in order to support these providers. There are also several non-subsidised ferry services to the offshore islands, many of whom operate on a seasonal basis. It is envisaged that non-subsidised ferry services to the offshore islands may be eligible for support through a similar mechanism. While the application of the fuel price variation clause in respect of the subsidised services is a matter for the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, my Department will work with it to the greatest extent possible to ensure that all service providers are supported. I will provide the House with some more detail on how we will support the passenger transport operators and school bus providers who are a critical part of our public transport system, providing essential connectivity across both urban and rural areas. These services are not operated on a commercial basis, so time-bound supports are necessary to protect service capacity and maintain continuity across the sector. TFI Local Link services are provided under the public transport public service obligation, PSO, a service managed by the NTA. Contracts under the PSO include a fuel variation mechanism to allow for additional payments to providers in circumstances such as those currently being experienced. The fuel subsidy uplift varies by month in line with the actual change in costs incurred by operators. In many cases, fuel costs for publicly contracted services will be covered, in whole or in part, through State subvention or contract pricing mechanisms. There are three separate school transport services transporting 181,000 children and young people to school on over 8,700 buses and taxis, covering more than 11,000 routes daily. These services are typically delivered under fixed-price contracts, leaving operators exposed to rising fuel costs with little ability to adjust pricing. To address this, a temporary fuel variation mechanism will be introduced, aligned with the approach used for other contracted services. Support will be delivered through existing arrangements with Bus Éireann and the Department of Education and Youth and will target operators which are not already compensated for fuel cost increases. Officials from our Department will assist their counterparts in the operation of the scheme where necessary. Passenger service operators that do not fall under the scope of the 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 provider business models where the same operator may provide services under Local Link services, school transport services or on a commercial basis. I want to be as open as possible that there may be some overlap between the bus and core supports and the road transport and the fuel subsidy support schemes. Any overlaps are expected to be minimal and are reasonable in the context of our transport business operates. For example, a business that provides agricultural contracting services and has haulage operations may benefit in respect of different vehicles for the road transport support scheme and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine fuel subsidy support scheme. A licensed passenger operator providing bus services to and from piers for island ferries may benefit from the road transport scheme and Department of Rural and Community Development supports. Licensed passenger operators who provide commercial bus services as well as school transport services may be eligible for support from both schemes in respect of different parts of their business. It should be noted that the Local Link services are provided through identified separate vehicles. These vehicles will be excluded from the road transport support scheme. Therefore, operators of Local Link will not receive support under the road transport scheme in respect of the licensed vehicles used for Local Link schemes. As the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, indicated, the scheme will run for three months, from March to May. An initial payment backdated to March 2026 will be made to each qualifying haulage or coach operator. Payments will only be made in respect of April and May should the national average price of diesel exceed €1.90 per litre in either month. For the avoidance of doubt, the same payment structure and rates will apply in these months regardless of how much or how little the average diesel price exceeds €1.90 per litre. The €1.90 per litre level is a critical measure for the commercial transport sector, in the experience of the representative bodies, after which many businesses may become unviable. The development of an electronic application and processing system to facilitate payments is under way and applications are expected to commence soon. In the meantime, my Department continues to engage with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's state aid experts on the notification of details of the scheme to the EU Commission. The European Commission is working on a state aid temporary crisis framework to support the EU economy in the context of the Middle East crisis. Ireland has provided feedback on the proposals and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, discussed the impact of the Middle East crisis on transport in Ireland and the necessary priority measures with other EU Transport Ministers on 21 April. As such, I will provide further information on which state aid framework the road transport support scheme will operate within once officials in our Department and the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment have had the opportunity to review the Commission's forthcoming temporary crisis framework. In conclusion, I want to reiterate that the Government is acutely aware of the challenges faced by the road transport sector in recent months. The transport support scheme is a wholly necessary support for an industry that is a crucial employer and underpins the broader economy. Together with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and officials in my Department, I will continue to engage constructively with representative bodies not only on recent cost pressures but on other challenges, including driver shortages and decarbonisation. I am grateful for the opportunity to share details of the scheme today. I look forward to confirming the opening date for applications in the coming weeks and I welcome the contributions of Deputies on this important topic. I would again like to reiterate that the engagement we have had with representative groups started the week that the crisis in Iran began, and has been ongoing since and will continue. It is important that that dialogue creates a basis by which we can face the challenges going forward because the challenges will change as we go along. The other issue is that the complexity of transport, coach and education delivery involves complications in each area. We have developed a scheme that is simple and easy to operate. All of our officials will work together to ensure that the application process can happen as quickly as possible and funding can get out to keep cash flow going for those who need it most.

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