Bus Services

131. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Transport whether he has conducted any affordability tests on fare increases in Cork. [66855/26]

As the statutory body responsible for regulating fares across services operated under the PSO contracts the National Transport Authority is central to shaping a public transport system that is fair, efficient and accessible. Through its management of fare strategies, it helps to ensure pricing structures support social inclusion and modal shift while also underpinning the financial viability and resilience of the network. A significant milestone under the national fares strategy was reached in July 2026, when a simplified fare structure already in place in Dublin was extended to Cork. Passengers there can now avail of the TFI 90-minute fare, allowing transfers between multiple bus services within a defined period on a single fare. This is encouraging multimodal travel and reducing the cost of interchange. The NTA recently noted the introduction of the TFI 90 fare and fare capping has delivered a simpler and more affordable fare structure for passengers in that area, with a view to facilitating future expansion of the multimodal network. This represents a shift away from operator-specific pricing towards a customer-centred, integrated transport network. For the first time, passengers using Bus Éireann's Cork TFI city bus services can catch any bus in the city and transfer between buses in Cork city as often as needed within 90 minutes, all for a single fare of €1.70. The new on-board ticket validators complement this by allowing passengers to tap their Leap card. This reduces boarding times and improves overall reliability and punctuality. The national fare determination announced by the NTA in September builds on this for Cork with city fares being held at those levels from July 2026, rather than adjusted or further increased. Time-based tickets for children, students and young adults such as 1-day, 7-day, monthly and annual tickets will actually see costs fall by about 30%. These offer particularly good value for some frequent users and demonstrate both the NTA and Department are firmly committed to delivering a public transport system that is sustainable, dependable, accessible and affordable.

Just to let the Minister of State know, the fare hike came into Cork in July. What that means for adults going to work, college or hospital appointments is an extra €240 a year. On top of that now we will see the price go up for the train. If you get the train or the bus you are going to see your fares going up. Has the Minister of State conducted any tests to see if people can afford to absorb these fare hikes? People are telling me they are being priced out. He talks about the 90-minute fare but we have people who could be waiting an hour for the bus. That would not be unusual. Expecting the 90-minute fare to work is not feasible with the bus service we currently have in Cork. Not one extra bus route has been delivered in Cork in 2026 and at the same time the bus fares are being hiked up. How can that be justified? The app is not working. The NTA has admitted that. I have met the authority on a number of occasions. People are standing at bus stops looking at signs and the app is not working. They are looking at their phones to see when the next bus is and the bus disappears. How can that be right? How can the Government be charging people extra for that? The only thing we are getting from BusConnects is announcements. We are not getting buses and we are not getting new bus services.

I will repeat what I have said about the changes that happened in July 2026 in Cork. They make the fares cheaper and make it easier for people to use multimodal transport. If there are issues with buses not coming on time we have discussed that earlier and we are working on that. The cost for children, students and young adults in Cork of time-based tickets such as the 1-day, 7-day, monthly and annual tickets is coming down by about 30%. That is a fact. This is as a result of the introduction of the standard discount for young adult and students at 50% and children at 33% of equivalent adult fares. These can offer very good value for some frequent users. It is important to say this Government has invested €941 million in the PSO levy in 2026. That is a huge increase from 2025 and we will continue to invest in public transport. There are problems with public transport in places and we will continue to work on that to improve its efficiency and reliability.

We were told in Cork the fair increases were to pay for the 90-minute fares that were to come in. This is nonsense. It was done when the schools and the colleges were on holidays. It was snuck in over the summer with the thought that people would not spot it, but I spotted it. People who get the bus contacted me because they spotted it and could feel the difference. We are now being told more hardware will be needed for contactless payments. Will fares go up again when that comes in? People are struggling. There is a cost-of-living crisis. The cost for adults is an extra €240 a year. They cannot afford to drive and now they cannot afford to take the bus. Where was the feasibility audit done to see if people can afford this? The Minister of State talks about the PSO levy, about climate change and about getting people out of cars. How does putting up the price of buses at the same time as trying to get people out of cars work? I have another point to make. We have one park-and-ride in Cork. There is gridlock in Cork city. Why are park-and-rides not being rolled out north, west and east of the city so we can get people out of cars? We need have buses for them to get into the city.

The local authority should be putting in place the park-and-rides. The Department of Transport will support that and we need to see what the proposals are. Let us just go back to understand what the PSO services support. They support a wide range of Government policy including climate action, sustainable mobility, regional development, social inclusion, compact growth and economic competitiveness as well as the accommodation of population growth. There is a significant increase in demand for public transport because we are providing additional public transport at a price that is affordable. It has to be said that 27% of the population can avail of free travel. This is another important fact. It is important that we not lose the run of ourselves. We have to make sure that whatever we do in public transport is sustainable and that we can deliver the service to make sure that everybody has that choice and can enjoy using public transport as well.