Departmental Budgets

119. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Transport if he will detail the way in which he plans to comply with the €18 million levy applied to his Department's Vote for 2027; and if he will ensure that public transport commitments and obligations are fully resourced. [67530/26]

I thank Deputy Farrelly for the question. The application of the €18 million expenditure levy is currently forming part of the 2027 Estimates negotiations process under way with our colleagues in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. It is fair to say that it will be challenging to absorb this levy into our current expenditure budget for 2027. The Deputy has been a long-time advocate of increasing services of his area of Kildare. As he knows, the PSO expenditure accounts for around 70% of the current Vote, as the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, has just said. What that means for the House is that reforms in motor tax, modernisations listed in the national vehicle and driver file and the road traffic Bill 2026 will generate some savings. Once the relevant provisions of the Bill are enacted, they will remove the requirement to display a paper motor tax disc, therefore reducing the Department’s administrative costs by approximately €8 million per annum. It is important to say to the House that priority will be given to protecting the PSO funding as part of our budget 2027 negotiations to advance the progress that we have achieved in recent years and to ensure that we deliver a public transport system that is not just sustainable, but also dependable, accessible and affordable. In response to Deputy Daly, we are ambitious. We want to see services expanded and we want to work with people in all parts of the country and with all colleagues across the House to ensure we deliver for people in terms of accessible public transport.

I thank the Minister of State for that reply. It is a bit of a leap to ask us to accept that it is still part of the negotiations. The Minister of State definitely knows by now where that €18 million shortfall is going to be made up and it is not part of the budgetary process. He could tell us. I have asked him to detail to us what that is going to look like for 2027. He is choosing not, and that is unfortunate. We will see it come out in a couple of weeks and that is fine, but this was an opportunity to outline it. Otherwise, what we are going to see are fare hikes - they are going to be part of that - and a lack of investment in services. The Minister of State is talking to us about ambition, and I accept what he says, but that ambition last year was zero. There were no new services, certainly when it came to buses. We have an opportunity here to keep the fares as they were and actually look to further reduce them, not increase them. All I can assume is that the likes of the fare increases will go directly towards this €18 million bill that the Department of public expenditure is putting on Departments. Unless the Minister of State can tell me otherwise, what is looking likely for next year is a continued lack of investment in services and further fare increases, which is what the NTA has said, in order to meet what is ultimately other Departments' misexpenditure.

I am not going to have that particular row with the Deputy on the floor of House, but I want to make it quite to clear to him that the budgetary negotiations are ongoing. They have not concluded. The budget is on 6 October. We are very much committed to enhancing services, and an unprecedented €940 million allocation for PSO services in the budget of 2026, which was a 43% uplift, is by anyone's standard "ambition". That is called wanting to see an expansion of the services. It is a challenging period in public transport. We are seeing an increase in passenger numbers. All of us who live in urban areas see the increase in people using it. I will give the Deputy the example of the commuter rail project in my city of Cork. It is a savage success story. More people are using it. The Deputy's colleague, Deputy Quaide in Midleton, will tell him that it is an example. Deputy Kenny in Mallow will tell him that Mallow is full. Midleton is full, as is Cobh. Deputy O'Shea is in that area as well. It is a huge success, and that shows the breadth of our ambition, but I will come back to the Deputy further in the supplementary reply.

Those policies are working because the fare points are right. We know that increased fares reduce passenger numbers. The Government has made a decision in the last couple of weeks that it knows will be tantamount to a reduced level of service demand at a time when we have climate and affordability crises and at a time when the Department is not rolling out new services. They are facts. Absolutely, there is €900-odd million being allocated and I commend the Department for that, but ultimately it has been levied with a bill by the Department of public expenditure. To me, it is being bullied by that Department into having to pay for the Department of education's overspend. What I am asking the Minister of State for is not a conversation about a decision that the Government is going to make in the budget. I am asking him to tell us what planning has happened as to where that €18 million will come from. The Department has that decision made already. I have to expect that, given the months the Department has had to plan this - this has been going around an awful long time - the Minister of State knows where this expenditure is going to come from. What I am looking for is detail to ensure that no public transport services suffer, and no further public transport fare increases happen, because of it.

I am smiling because, as the Deputy knows quite well, the budget is on 6 October. Our Department's negotiations with the Department of public expenditure have not concluded. For me, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, our priority is very much about service expansion and the delivery of accessible and reliable services to give travelling members of the public certainty. I want to make the point to the Deputy that we need to have a conversation about how, in the broader thrust of public transport, service expansion is not just about funding. It is also about the availability of mechanics and drivers, as well as being about how we can deliver new services. As the Minister of State for rural transport, I am acutely aware of this. Deputy Daly mentioned Tralee in the context of the new delivery of town services. We will work to deliver new services. With our colleagues in the Department of public expenditure, we will arrive at a budgetary position that will ensure that the PSO gives that uplift for new services. I look forward to working with Deputy Farrelly for the people of Kildare and delivering services for them. The Deputy's question is a fair point in the context of people's expectations, but €940 million is a significant uplift in public transport funding. I hope that we can deliver more.