As the Deputy will be aware, the National Transport Authority (NTA) is a non-commercial State body operating under the aegis of the Department of Transport. While the NTA exercises its functions independently, it is fully accountable to my Department for its performance, governance and use of public funds. This is established through both legislation and the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, which is implemented through a number of formal oversight mechanisms.
Under the Code of Practice, an Oversight Agreement (OA) and a Performance Delivery Agreement (PDA) are in place between my Department and the NTA. These agreements set out the statutory and policy framework within which the NTA operates, the respective roles and responsibilities of the NTA and the Department, key outputs and performance indicators, and governance, compliance, and assurance obligations.
The Department also exercises ongoing oversight through a structured programme of engagement, including monthly meetings between NTA senior management and Department officials, quarterly corporate governance meetings to review compliance and performance, regular day-to-day engagement on policy and programme delivery, and direct engagement with me as Minister on strategic or topical matters. The NTA is also required to submit annual reports, strategy statements, financial accounts, and other documentation that enable the Department to assess its performance.
My Department also has a dedicated Governance Division which oversees compliance with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies including compliance with Department of Public Expenditure Reform Circular 25/2016, setting out a protocol for the provision of information to members of the Oireachtas by State bodies. Adherence to this protocol is part of the Department’s OA with the NTA.
In keeping with the requirements of circular 25/2016 all agencies under the aegis of my Department have a dedicated Oireachtas email address which is accessible to all, of which the NTA's is oireachtasliaison@nationaltransport.ie. The Oireachtas Liaison function in the NTA processes all queries received from public representatives, local authority motions, departmental queries and also questions submitted to the Department via the Parliamentary Question (PQ) process.
As of 14th September 2026, the NTA have received approximately 4,300 cases this year across these areas which includes approximately 2,600 queries from public representatives (sent directly to the NTA outside of the PQ process). At this point, they received 1,195 PQs, of which 919 have been answered. This left 276 PQs outstanding. Of these, 83 were received within the last two weeks and remain within the standard response timeframe. Consequently, 193 PQs were overdue, having exceeded the 15-day response target.
The NTA remains committed to responding to all queries received through the political process and is currently managing a record number of requests. While delays can arise at times, every effort is made to minimise these and to issue responses as promptly as possible within available resources.
