Search the record

about public transport because people are crying out for better public transport across our country. When the Government announced its hike in public transport fares a month ago, it tried to justify that on the basis of new services. There was no reference in today's budget … figure of 140 new services that was mentioned when the public transport fares were announced a month ago. Where are the new Local Link services? Where are the measures to stop ghost buses? Where are the new bus services around our cities? We have to ask what

suggest to me that this Government recognises the urgency with which we need to help households to decarbonise. Then we have the public transport fare hikes. It would have taken €70 million a year to prevent public transport fares going up. We are spending €100 million a month … gains they have made in terms of tax cuts will be swallowed up once those fare hikes come in in January. We are discouraging people from using public transport and prolonging our reliance on expensive and volatile fossil fuels in the middle of a cost-of-living

nearly a 50% cut. Instead of ensuring citizens have access to affordable transport, the Government expects the public to foot the bill. Public transport fares will increase in January. In Donegal, where there is awful public transport, barely enough rural services to provide any help to the rural

workers and householders. I call it a €4.80 budget and I will tell the House why. There is the 15% increase in public transport fares that the Government intends to plough ahead with in January. The Government has failed to address the cost of living. There … Minister, and I appeal again, to allow cancer patients to have a medical card automatically. The Government has failed them. On public dentistry, there is no sign of a ring-fenced budget. In Laois, the public scheme, the dental treatment services scheme, is non-existent. There has been

arms, to properly expand renewable energy, including offshore wind, without delay. It requires actively promoting active travel and public transport, not increasing public transport fares as the Government has. Most importantly, it requires us to choose those who are struggling over investors who want to boost their

Government forgot last year; the public sector workers still left without any pay deal; the commuters facing a 15% increase in public transport fares; and renters facing eviction into homelessness. What the Government produced will come as cold comfort to workers like Martina, who contacted me today

option but to have a car. The irony is not lost on them that the same Government stood over an increase in public transport fares in recent times. You really could not make it up. On green diesel, again, farmers need more support. We have called

instead of making those critical investments now that would pay dividends in the future, this Government is penny pinching. Jacking up fares for public transport is the perfect example of this regressive and short-term thinking. These fare increases could have been stopped with investment of just … cost. It wants commuters up and down the country to dig deeper instead. Rather than making life more affordable for people using public transport, the Government is deliberately choosing to increase costs. That choice will not be forgotten, and commuters on buses and trains across the country will

afraid to press the "on" button for the heating, immersion or cooker are not winners today. Nor are public transport users facing down €70 million worth of transport fare hikes. Who does win? For as long as the Government relies on the private market to meet the public

important to note that we have ensured the protection of about 1.5 million people who use public transport for free and are eligible for free or reduced fare travel. Between the significant additional funding received through both the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment and the Department … need it most while continuing to invest heavily in infrastructure to ensure that our people have access to safe, affordable and frequent public transport. In conclusion, I welcome the €6 billion that has been allocated to MetroLink, which is a project that will be starting very shortly. That

rely on rail every day. Government policy is to encourage greater use of public transport and that means passengers must have confidence that the service is safe, reliable, efficient and resilient, but public confidence in rail is hard-won and easily lost. We have seen in places such … make and how they impact public transport usage. If we are serious about modal shift, we need a railway that people want to use. That means not only safe infrastructure and modern signalling systems but also reliable services, competitive fares and a passenger experience that encourages more people

other Departments. When the public sector pay deal ran out months ago, in June, it snubbed the unions representing workers across our vital public services. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, must now engage urgently with unions whose members are struggling. The Government's failure to take PAYE workers seriously … applications have doubled. Just a month since the National Transport Authority, NTA, announced that fares would go up by an average of 15% in January, the Government did nothing to make public transport and active travel more affordable at a time petrol and diesel prices have exploded. This

still delayed until 2028. It was initially promised in 2025. We now have a fare increase that is 15% above inflation. Loads of well-populated urban areas in Limerick have no public transport. The Government should have front-loaded that in this year's budget. I would like

every day on public transport in this country. Hundreds of thousands of commuters are trying to get to and from work, and the State should make that journey as easy as possible. I have been very vocal in my critique of the increase in fares that is coming

economy too and deserve access to modern public transport. A network designed on the basis that all roads lead to Dublin is destined for failure. In Kerry, we know too well what happens when regional transport is treated as an afterthought. We are not asking for luxury … cannot persuade people out of their cars if there is no train available, or achieve modal shift if communities have no realistic public transport alternatives. We cannot lecture people about reducing emissions if we fail to provide the infrastructure that will allow them to do so. Railway investment

benefit to Drogheda. Rail services have improved. There has been a 40% increase in passenger numbers on the hourly Enterprise service. The fairer fares initiative last year significantly reduced costs for commuters, particularly rail commuters, in Drogheda and Dundalk, which was widely welcomed but was not mentioned … Dundalk under the urban regeneration and development fund for public realm works and housing activation measures. That is all really good. Great new communities are growing up in the area and they need to be supported by public transport. There is a logic to having a station

done so in order to take the bare look off the lack of energy credits and real improvements in public services, and the incredible fare hikes that it decided to load on commuters in Louth, Kildare and across the country over the last period of time. This … needed if our tax, social welfare, capital and public services worked like the countries that we ought to compare ourselves to. The extraordinary thing is that despite the increase in public spending in recent years, public spending in Ireland is still below the average. This budget today still

Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Transport the reason 16, 17 and 18-year-olds are required to pay full adult public transport fares while providing a 50% discount to 19 to 25-year-olds, including adults earning a full-time income; the reason a 16-year