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need to have a debate on the hikes in public transport fares that were announced in the last two weeks. The Minister for Transport needs to explain why he thinks it is acceptable, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, for fares for bus and train … users to be raised by an average of 15%. These fare rises do not have to happen. An extra €70 million invested in the National Transport Authority, NTA, this year would ensure it does not have to go through. This is a political call by Fianna Fáil

Minister of State referred to the new 90-minute fares and the fact that people can tap on and tap off. I want to let her know that the fare is €1.90 but next week, it will be €2.40. That is a 26% increase in the fare

changes could be considered. A related issue I wish to raise is the significant difference that commuters in Galway are paying for rail fares compared to other parts of the State, particularly Dublin. I had a constituent in touch with me highlighting that rail passengers between Athenry … public transport, why are commuters in Galway paying twice what commuters in Dublin could expect to pay for their rail fares, especially given that public transport is much more limited in the west? Will the Minister of State review this difference in fares and ensure that commuters

funding for the Department of Transport has enabled delivery on a number of key projects. There was a continuation of the fare initiatives, the 20% adult fare discount, the 50% discount and a 90-minute fare which reduce the cost of public transport and encourage modal shifts. Progress

increase from €658 million in 2025 to €940 million for next year. This package includes funding for the continuation of various fares initiatives such as the young adult card and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding has also been provided to extend free child … fares on public service transport to include those aged five to eight years of age and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects, to which the Deputy referred, and Connecting Ireland. BusConnects, as Deputy Ward acknowledged

virtually non-existent. It is no surprise that we find ourselves here. There have been improvements in recent years, like the 90-minute fare and the expansion of Local Link routes, but much more is needed to get us to a place where public transport is the preferred … with the roll-out of Local Link routes. We need to build on this. We should also continue to build on the reduced fares introduced in 2022 and deliver safe cycling and walking infrastructure, particularly in commuter towns. Even talking about private car use from a sustainability perspective

Local Link services, an increase from over €613 million in 2024. This package included funding for the continuation of the various fare initiatives, such as the young adult card and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding has also been provided to extend free child … fares on public service obligation, PSO, services to include those aged five to eight years old and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland. As is the case with all such measures, all funding

under-nines to include and involve commercial bus operators. It aims to build on the Department of Transport's expansion of the fare reduction scheme introduced in recent years. If we are to have equity, equality and fairness, it is essential that this modest but impactful extension would … Power in 2024. It was commissioned by the 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

thank the Minister of State for the reply. The figure I have been given, and the fare I know people are paying, is the return fare, which increased from €18.50 to €27.30. That is a somewhat different percentage increase than that for the single fare he cited

Department of Transport secured €658 million in funding, an increase from €613 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 … Deputy referenced a return fare increase from €18.50 to €27.30. I will check that. It seems like a large increase. I will examine peak-time morning and evening schedules. People travel from Dublin and board at different stops, and services have to let people off. It is about

face ghost buses, inaccurate information about arrivals and departures on transport apps, broken real-time monitors and inflexibility in how they pay their fares. The Minister will have heard Deputy after Deputy speak about how ghost buses in particular are undermining public confidence in the transport system … contribution. Affordability is key. We know that public transport users are price sensitive. It is important that the overall cuts in public transport fares that were introduced by the previous Government be maintained, as they are important cost-of-living measures. I heard what the Minister said about

Department for Local Link services, which represents an increase from the €613 million. However, we have been encouraging young people through the fare reduction, the young adult card on commercial bus services and the 90-minute fare until the end of this year. There is also funding … from the city centre. This is combined with new inter-suburban and local routes. Free interchange is available using the 90-minute fare. As the Deputy is well aware, the new BusConnects Dublin network is being implemented in stages. For Inchicore, phase 4 saw the introduction

fares, my focus is on investing in our fleet and infrastructure. That will be Government's focus. This five years to the end of the decade can see a step change in our infrastructure. We have seen some significant projects in Ceannt Station, Galway, and Kent Station, Cork … looking at how we can do that better. Affordability in public transport is key. We have to be mindful of the levels of fares. The decision was made to bring in free travel for five-to-eight-years-olds. We want to see what

interesting that, literally, the only mention of affordability came in the last sentence of a two-minute contribution, and my question was about fare pricing. I know we have seen an increase in the number of people using public transport, which is fantastic, but we need … meet our targets for 2025 but that is clearly not going to happen. Disincentivising people from using public transport by putting up fares is not the way to do it. We have seen increases in train fares for people in Greystones, Kilcoole, Sallins, Kilcock, Balbriggan and Skerries. That

very practical sense. My hometown is one that has seen an adverse impact from this change. Admittedly, many other areas have seen fares decrease. I do not think it is good that we are seeing one town nearly being pitted against another as a result of this fare … structure. We have taken several measures to reduce public transport fares that I am proud of. We did that together in the last Government. I would like to meet the NTA regarding this issue. Perhaps those of us from constituencies impacted could seek to meet the organisation together

this. We know very well that as the review was carried out, there were some people, including in our constituency, who saw significant fare reductions, but there have also been what I regard as anomalies in that some towns have seen significant fare increases. In this regard … number of steps to try to help people with the cost of public transport, including the young adult card and the 90-minute fare. We have had money to extend that. We have seen a number of initiatives that have helped to reduce the cost and I would

Minister mentioned a reduction in fares. Only last week, there was an outrageous proposal that commuters would be punished for the Government's failure to deliver essential transport infrastructure. Last Friday, it was reported that commuters would be subject to increased fares to pay for public transport infrastructure … regressive step. It is not a zero-sum game and one set of priorities must not be sacrificed for another. The fare reductions must be kept in place

Local Link services. This represents an increase from €613.813 million in 2024. This package includes funding for the continuation of the various fare initiatives, such as the young adult card and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding has also been provided to extend free … child fares on PSO services to include those aged five to eight years old and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland. The Deputy is right when she says that we can have

plan. How can we trust that this will finally be the year the Government implements services such as the Leap card and reduced fares for commuters? The Leap card for Kildare South was supposed to commence on 1 September 2024. Since then, it has been delayed several times … Naas, where a yearly ticket costs €828, more than €1,000 cheaper. We are still in a cost-of-living crisis. Lowering fares would put money back in the pockets of commuters. Government inaction on this issue has been so prominent that groups such as Extend the Short

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 bus services and the 90-minute fare until … Funding has also been secured to extend free child fares on PSO services to include those aged between five and eight years and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland. As the Deputy will

areas, but 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

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 is a fundamentally dishonest … hard pressed to find the money to go back to school, or for the commuters who have been slapped around the face with fare hikes. Likewise, there is no help for pensioners whose weekly payments have been swallowed up by the rising cost of everything and who will

places such as Balbriggan that passenger numbers can decline, even though it is a growing community. When service reliability came under pressure and fares increased in 2025, we saw a 5% decrease in passenger numbers at Balbriggan train station. This makes absolutely no sense. Balbriggan is the youngest … 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 to leave the car at home, not the opposite. Every investment we make in safety

While families are struggling with the cost of living, we have seen huge pay increases for CEOs and now we are seeing transport fare hikes that in some cases will see fares for children increase by over 100%. That is not fairness and is not putting people first

have perfect transport services. In fact, that is not true. I have been bombarded with emails from constituents who are livid over the fare increases, and rightly so. As well as the hundreds of emails from angry and upset residents, I have been approached by people … hikes. They cite the dire cost-of-living crisis. They rightly point out that transport services are not delivering for them and the fare increases will likely reduce their use of services. Let us take the Dublin Bus route 73 as an example. A constituent from Crumlin says

Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Transport the projected annual cost of eliminating all passenger fares on public transportation and funding services solely through public funding. [67120/26

robust to respond to developments since the enactment of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013; to provide an update on this year's planned fare review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66086/26

Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Transport the obligations on app dispatch operators to show a taxi driver the exact final fare charged to their passenger (details supplied); the protections that exist for the driver who correctly entered the lower meter amount in an event where

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Transport his views on the NTA’s decision to implement price increases on public transport fares; his views on whether this goes against the Government aims to incentivise the use of public transport; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport to reconsider the introduction of a 15% increase in adult public transport fares given the current cost-of-living crisis. [64459/26

Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Transport if he will intervene to stop fare hikes of 15% hitting public transport users in 2027, considering cost of living pressures, the recent tax break to motorists, and the imperative from a climate perspective to promote sustainable transport. [64505/26

Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Transport the way in which the additional fare revenue expected to be generated in 2027 will be used; the amount expected to fund existing services; the amount expected to fund additional or enhanced services; and the specific service improvements or additional

required to use more than one operator to complete a journey; and whether consideration has been given to introducing a daily fare cap or integrated day ticket for such journeys. [65886/26

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Transport to reconsider the increase on fares on public transport. [64561/26

Daly asked the Minister for Transport the measures he is taking to address the concerns that the recently announced rise in public transport fares will discourage the use of public transport; the measures he is taking to ensure that the use of public transport is affordable

Minister for Transport to report on the engagements he had with the NTA to discuss the recently announced increase in public transport fares; to report on all meetings including the times he met with the NTA to discuss this issue in person; and the dates of these meetings

asked the Minister for Transport the work that has been carried out by his Department to analyse the impact of the recently announced fare increase on the affordability of public transport; if he will publish this analysis; and to outline a date for publication. [64568/26

Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport his views on whether the recently announced increase in public transport fares is justified; and if he will consider reversing this increase and ensure that it does not go ahead in January 2027. [64567/26

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Transport to urgently reconsider the increase in public transport fares by 15% in 2027 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64709/26

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Transport If he will address the issues raised in correspondence (details supplied) concerning recent rail fare increases and operations within Iarnród Éireann. [64730/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Transport the way in which the decision to increase the Public Service Obligation fares by an average of 15% from January 2027 is consistent with the target in the National Sustainable Mobility Policy, as updated by the Climate Action Plan

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Transport if an assessment was made of the impact of the January 2027 fare increase on low income commuters, on rural passengers and on users of TFI Local Link services; and if he will make a statement on the matter

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Transport the criteria that will govern the annual review of fares to apply from 2027; whether each annual adjustment will be subject to Ministerial approval; whether it will be laid before the Oireachtas for scrutiny; and if he will make

modelling or assessment was carried out by his Department or the National Transport Authority of the projected impact of the January 2027 fare increase on passenger numbers and on progress toward national public transport journey targets; if so, if that modelling will be published; and if he will

passengers who are required to make transfers between services due to the current network design and who cannot avail of an integrated fare system; and if he will provide the findings of any such assessment. [62921/26

Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Transport whether the 90-minute TFI fare will be extended to Galway city bus services; if this possibility has been assessed by the National Transport Authority; and if he will provide a timeline for any planned implementation. [62920/26

journey; the way in which a driver is protected in the event that a passenger subsequently claims to have been charged a fare higher than the metered amount that the driver correctly entered into the app; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63426/26

McGuinness asked the Minister for Transport the reason the TFI Waterford Bus Red Zone Leap Card does not have daily and weekly fare capping as is available in Dublin and Cork. [63392/26

Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport if an app dispatch operator is expected to show the driver the exact final taxi fare charged to the passenger; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63504/26

Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport his views on concerns that have been raised regarding the fixed fare service for taxi drivers (details supplied). [63830/26