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national fare structure for train fares announced by the NTA will see the implementation of the Dublin city zone later this year. Skerries and Balbriggan, two towns in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, have been excluded from the Dublin city zone; unlike Maynooth, which … already received numerous emails from people angry at this increase, particularly at a time when we are trying to encourage more uptake of public transport. I also received emails from some individuals who, out of economic necessity, will be forced to drive to Rush and Lusk. Will

Uber and other taxi app companies have been at the transport committee this week. Across the world Uber makes enormous profits by driving down the amount given to taxi drivers and driving up the cost to passengers through add-on charges and dynamic pricing. Taxi drivers have been … public is that the NTA should have its own app so we do not have profiteering, surge pricing or attacks on the income of taxi drivers. The NTA should have a booking app that provides information on what taxis are available and transparency in terms of fares

regarding the consideration of interim solutions. If I were to travel from Neillstown, where I am from, to the airport today by public transport, I would have to take three buses. If I travelled via Adamstown I would need to take a train and bus, that … airport from different parts of my constituency by taxi ranges from €50 to €90. It is often the case that the taxi fares people pay are more than what they pay for the flights they are taking out of the country. I urge the Minister to consider interim

because they will also be able to have accounts. I am interrogating those timelines. This would be transformative for our transport system across all bus, rail, Luas and DART services. In the meantime, and as an interim measure, Iarnród Éireann already provides for passengers to download … tickets for bus services outside Dublin, including on all Bus Éireann public service obligation services, Dublin commuter routes operated by Go-Ahead Ireland and all local link rural services nationwide. As part of the young adult fares scheme, 27 private bus operators already sell their tickets

wants to increase bus and rail fares by 15%. My God. I was in Moate the other night at a meeting attended by over 3,500 people from all walks of life - the transport network, the haulage network, carers, nurses and contractors - wondering how their businesses are going … gets fired so it loses money and wastes money every year and comes back the following year. When I told the Minister for public expenditure in the Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight that there were people who could not get a rebate because they were not compliant because

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

significantly increase the funding for these types of services to get this onto a sustainable footing, with a 42% increase and record public transport passenger numbers right the way across the country and continued growth. I want to grow that further. We are seeking additional funding for next … pretty soon. I want to get additional funding for that. We are looking at how that funding is made up between PSO and fares to be able to deliver new services like this, and the Deputy is right that people are responding

with a disability access public transport. That is unacceptable. I know what the Minister of State said. A well-connected, functioning and affordable public transport system is essential for regional balance. The effort to create balanced regional economic growth on the island has been neglected for decades … there is still no rail in Donegal. That region ranks in the bottom 10% of the EU's 234 regions in terms of transport infrastructure. The Government cannot stand over that anymore. It leads not only to a lack of confidence but also to a deep unfairness

public transport for commuters. The State must ensure that those living in our towns, cities and villages can be assured that public transport is cheaper and genuinely viable for commuters. The fact that many multinationals in Ireland - I look at Apple on the northside of Cork city - continue … services from the cities and towns for their staff speaks to the lack of faith in the State's ability to ramp up public infrastructure routes and capacity. This has to change. I will always acknowledge efforts by the Government to increase services. Services by rail in Cork

that there are State agencies in this country that have absolute responsibility. The NTA has responsibility for the regulation of fares. It is important to outline that in order to counteract some of what the Deputy is saying. That said, I have taken note of what he said … completed by quarter 4 of 2027 to support the electric bus roll-out for future network redesign launch dates. The performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place between it and the operators. I understand the Minister

These fare hikes are outrageous. At a time when people are facing a severe cost-of-living crisis, what is the Government doing? It is making it more expensive for people to get to and from work. I received a message from a constituent last week saying that … pressure they are already under, they are being asked to pay more. What message are we sending to workers? Instead of making public transport more affordable and reliable, the Government is making it harder for people to use it. Workers should not be punished for going to work

Leap card was a big step forward from what we had before. The 90-minute fare is very useful. The interaction of the Leap card between all of our transport operators as well is useful. It is not too many years ago that this option was not available … want kids who are using buses, etc., to get used to doing so in order that it becomes a habit. We had record public transport passenger journeys last year. We want to try to exceed that this year. People are responding in that regard right across urban

fares jacked up. Those who get the train from Balbriggan or Skerries were taken out of the Dublin commuter zone and had their fares increased by almost €100. That was only last year. We now have a situation whereby they will be asked to pay more. They … clear there will not be additional services and that the knock-on effect of this will be fewer people getting public transport. The Government does not give people an opportunity to get public transport unless it invests in it. It is not investing in it; it is just

budgetary decision. We have, however, an overspend of €68 million. What are we doing? We are putting €70 million worth of additional fares on the taxpayer. It is simply not good enough. As it stands, while the Minister's opening remarks are very aspirational, and I reiterate that … What he is justifying is inexcusable. I really ask him to reconsider that, certainly for the core demographics of people who are using public transport. He should work that into the budget. This does not have to happen in January. I ask him in that time to reconsider

wider BusConnects Dublin network redesign. One of the core principles of that work is to provide a more frequent, reliable and better-connected public transport network across the greater Dublin area. The redesign seeks to provide improved service levels and reduced waiting times for all passengers throughout … direct peak-time services to and from the city centre are envisaged. These changes will also be supported by the 90-minute Leap fare, ensuring that passengers making multi-modal journeys do not incur any additional costs. Furthermore, the planned development of the Blanchardstown to city centre core

small public service vehicles. The National Transport Authority is the independent regulator for licensing and enforcement for the SPSV industry under the consolidated taxi regulations. That being said, I want to clarify that the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, has taken over the brief for rural transport … licence is that only passengers within a designated range of 10 km can be picked up, as Deputy Kelly said, and a new fare may not be picked up at a drop-off point outside of that area. As Deputy Kelly stated, two licences are required. There

James Geoghegan - To discuss preventing judicial reviews of critical infrastructure projects. Deputy George Lawlor - To discuss the inclusion of commercial bus operators in fare reduction schemes. Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss the reopening of Rattoo Round Tower, closed for 15 years for maintenance works by OPW. Deputy Louis … Murchú· - To discuss the failure to provide an SNA for a primary school child. Deputy Thomas Gould - To discuss the lack of school transport for children in special schools in Cork. Deputy Matt Carthy - To discuss the impact of delays of SENO allocations on pupils and families

Increasing rail fares on the antiquated Rosslare, Wexford, Wicklow and Dublin rail line would be an absolute joke. It would be a bad choice and would make no sense. Despite great expansions at Rosslare Europort, the gateway to Europe which connects Rosslare to Dublin, our capital city … commuters on a gridlocked M11. Despite all the bluster about reducing carbon footprints and all of that, the Government has refused to prioritise public transport and invest in the rail service. It could make that happen. It could take cars off the road and improve people's quality

system in the history of the State and is managed by the NTA. The aim of the network is to improve the existing Transport for Ireland system through enhanced services with high-frequency spines and new local, orbital and radial routes. In regard to the NTA's proposed … monitoring new services, identifying issues and implementing fixes where appropriate. The NTA takes all feedback from the public very seriously, as it should, because it is the public who are using the system. As the Deputy will be aware, on 28 November, the NTA announced that it would

calls earlier in the year for a €400 support for people with disabilities who face additional costs. Imagine how they are faring right now with this. The excise duty cuts are not going to make up for the fuel price increases. The most vulnerable in our society … that people can heat their homes from home-grown production, be it from green hydrogen from excess electricity production, better insulated housing or public transport powered by hydrogen, electricity produced at home or biofuels. I have said this 100 times and I will say it 100 times more

motion put forward by Deputy O'Gorman. They are very welcome and timely. The very important ones are to further reduce fares and to further accelerate the Connecting Ireland rural bus programme. The all-island rail strategy was mentioned. It is important, as we move towards the reunification … ground to be made up there. On the school transport sector, the Climate Change Advisory Council report, published today, notes that of 773,000 primary and post-primary pupils, only 172,000, or 18%, have access to school transport. We can see the difference when schools