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secured €658.442 million in public funding for public service obligations and TFI Local Link services. That is an increase from €613 million in 2024. This funding also supports continuation after a 20% fare reduction in PSO services, the young adult card for both PSO and commercial bus services … support the roll-out of new enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland. The NTA has strategy responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect to public transport services provided under the PSO contracts. In this context, in April

This funding will go towards funding and subsidising existing public transport services while maintaining targeted fares including initiatives such as the free travel for all children up to the age of nine and the young adult card for those aged 19-25 as part … this funding has been secured for continued investment in our rural transport service provision in 2026, a 38% increase on last year's funding. This funding ensures continued delivery of vital transport services across rural Ireland, building on the significant increase in funding in recent years. In County

lottery of charity for those who cannot. The foundation of our public oral health network is crumbling for years. The dental treatment service scheme was meant to guard the most vulnerable, namely, our medical card holders. That scheme has fundamentally collapsed. Private practitioners are withdrawing from State schemes

Shankill, County Dublin Deputy Eoghan Kenny - To discuss public transport projects in Cork city and county. Deputy Erin McGreehan - To discuss the delivery of level 2 general palliative care services in the community, including clinical nursing services outside normal working hours in County Louth. Deputy Michael Cahill … medical card. Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the development of equine therapy facilities at the Toghermore campus in Tuam, County Galway. Deputy Shane Moynihan - To discuss enhancing public transport links between Lucan and the airport. Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss core funding for Ballyfermot youth service. Deputy

increasing the threshold for medical card entitlement. It still sits, scandalously, at €186, where it has been for over two decades. For a couple with two children, it is €342. Once a family of four is over that, it loses its medical card. What about cancer patients … 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 a complete lack

million of funding for public service obligation, PSO, and Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link services, which was an increase from €618 million in 2024. That includes funding for the continuation of the 20% fare reduction on PSO services, the young adult card on both PSO and commercial … support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland. As the Deputy will be aware, the Government recently commitment to improving public transport under the new programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, and is backing

Unprecedented numbers of people are at work, alongside growing shameful child poverty and deprivation. Climbing inequality is set against overflowing tax revenues. Embarrassing public service gaps remain after a more than decade-long boom. A Minister is happy to lay the blame for our infrastructure and housing failures … budget about the culture card - and stamp duty cuts, which did not make it into the budget. It has 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

front door to this country, but we are making public transport unnecessarily difficult for visitors from the moment they arrive. Visitors still need a Leap card or the exact coins to use a Dublin Bus service. As we know, contactless tap-and-go is not expected

State that. We need to deal with the Bus Éireann ban on drivers over 70 years of age for its services and contracted services. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste agreed with me on the issue on the floor of the Dáil. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien … case for people who do not have bank cards or use phones for payments. The passenger experience has been mentioned already. There is no doubt that the public transport system has improved and I acknowledge it. Train services have improved. There is now a large number of trains

card. That needs to be simplified and better explained because it is far too complex for people to understand. The biggest reform we need to bring into the health service, if we are really interested in reform and dealing with waiting lists, is to build the elective public … referenced GP only cards and hospital beds, most of which have not been and will not be funded. There are other elements of the health service which require capital funding, including every acute hospital and mental health and disability services. The money does not go. At a meeting

This will go towards funding and subsidising existing public transport services across Ireland by maintaining targeted fares, including initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of nine and the young adult card for those aged from … travelling from Charleville to Cork with a morning service at 7.05 a.m. and a service from Cork to Charleville at 5.45 p.m., Monday to Friday. This new route is part of the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan, a major public transport initiative. Since 2022, 185 new and enhanced

that is private. We should provide them with a public service they can access; a public transport system for everyone. Another issue I find with the NTA, which has been mentioned by multiple Deputies, is the Leap card system. I know money has been invested in the current

example of good practice when it comes to public service reform as regards the work that has been done with the use of technology and online service. The passport service issued over 1 million passport books and cards in 2024. That was a milestone. Forecasts for this year

emergency patient transport services in order to attend outpatient appointments, there is an application process involved whereby patients are obliged to provide information pertaining to their medical card holder status and their mobility status, including details concerning any medical conditions that prevent them accessing public or private transport … patient requests at short notice, where possible. On the Deputy's specific inquiry concerning difficulties in making contact with the Wexford patient transport service, the Minister for Health is informed that there exists within Wexford General Hospital a dedicated office for the administration and support of non-emergency

continue accepting medical card patients without undue personal or professional risk". We are also asking that a further review would be commissioned "of how current insurance and regulatory frameworks may be inadvertently excluding experienced GPs from public health participation". We are also asking to publicly "acknowledge the invaluable … outlined in the letter I received, he is well got in the community, well renowned, and I think his service would be lost to those medical card patients if this service were to be withdrawn from them

public services? All of those dental practices are full to capacity. The evidence is clear that we must introduce a public-only dentist contract in order to reduce waiting lists, ensure children have timely access to preventative and corrective care and prioritise school screening and medical card holders … would need to be referred to Dublin because he needed two surgeries. Those surgeries would normally be done in Galway but the service was full to capacity. The treatment, she was told, would cost €4,000. That is completely unaffordable for the vast majority of parents. Another child

specific extra funding for dental services. There is no public dental system worth talking about in Laois. I have read the figures out here before on the school dental scheme, the dental treatment service scheme, DTSS, for medical card holders and the PRSI-based scheme. It is absolutely

approximately €660 million has been assigned for the public service obligation, PSO, and Transport for Ireland Local Link services. That is a significant increase on previous budgets. It also covers various fare initiatives, such as the young adult card and the 90-minute fare, until

families, regardless of geography or the service providers. For those children who reside in areas where public transport is not always available – we all know those areas – it would support a broader modal shift by fostering a culture of public transport use from an early age. Commercial … Coach Tourism & Transport Council of Ireland. The report highlighted that unequal application of fare supports is creating an uneven playing field between public service operators and licensed commercial operators. Extending free travel to under-nines on commercial buses is a practical step that would improve competitive fairness while

determined to ease the pressure people are facing now. What that means is improving access through the public system, especially for children and adult medical card holders. My Department and the HSE are finalising a more focused two-year programme to attempt to do just that. The plan … dedicated governance group with progress monitored closely and aligned to wider HSE and departmental priorities. It will aim to respond to sustained service pressures, workforce constraints and long waiting lists. It will focus on a small number of very clear priorities: cut waiting lists in the school dental

breaking 363.5 million journeys undertaken just last year. As the statutory body responsible for regulating fares across services operated under PSO contracts, the NTA is central to shaping a public transport system that is fair, efficient and accessible. Through its management of fare strategies, it helps to ensure … best practice, prioritising the reinvestment of the fare revenue is essential to support service improvements, expansion and system resilience. Maintaining a stable funding base is, therefore, critical to sustaining service levels and ensuring public transport continues to meet passenger needs over the long term. Regarding budget

performing a key role in our public service. The end of the year is a good time to take stock, celebrate achievements and identify areas for improvement. Regrettably, for this Government, successes are thin on the ground. Its report card looks especially bleak. This Government is awash with … slashed their incomes by up to €1,400 - yet another broken promise. Do you regret making all of these promises to the public and breaking them

public and private services across member states. The regulation requires each member state to develop and provide at least one European digital identity wallet by the end of 2026. The wallet will enable people to store various identity credentials, such as driving licences, EU health insurance cards … whom they provide any credential. The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport has responsibility for implementing the regulation while the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation has responsibility for the development of the Government digital wallet. The wallet must meet EU technical, security, interoperability

million for 2024. This funding supports the continuation of the 20% fare reduction in PSO services, the young adult card for PSO and commercial bus services and the 90-minute rail fare until the end of 2025. The Deputy referenced a return fare increase from … People travel from Dublin and board at different stops, and services have to let people off. It is about the experience we want to give passengers if we hope to get more and more people to use public transport. I will, however, bring these matters back

public dental service. We have just 249 dentists covering the entire country, down from 330 in 2009. It is scandalous that this has been allowed to happen. As I said, this has a very real impact, particularly on low-income persons and people dependent on the medical card … practice is certainly a much more exciting prospect because of the range of services they get to provide. There is a real issue where dentists with a number of years' service go into the public system because the range of services they provide is arguably more limited