Public Transport
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-30
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Darragh O'Brien (FF), Dublin Fingal East

I thank the Deputy. As Minister for Transport, I fully recognise the pressure that people and businesses are under due to rising fuel costs. Public transport has a particularly important role to play at times like this by providing a more affordable and sustainable alternative for many people. We are seeing public transport usage increase year-on-year. Last year, we saw a record 365 million public transport journeys. In that context, I am keeping under close review how the public transport system is equipped to respond to current pressures. My Department and the NTA remain in close contact with operators to monitor demand and operational impacts as the situation evolves. At the same time, it is important that any such measures are carefully considered and aligned with available resources, so that they are effective, sustainable and can deliver real benefits.
The immediate priority has been to protect existing services and ensure continuity across the network within the resources allocated in the PSO programme. In the PSO, we secured an unprecedented allocation of €940 million. That was a 43% uplift on the previous budget. I want to get us to a sustainable footing in relation to the funding of public transport services. Where it previously had been, where additional routes were added and at the end of every year a supplementary budget was sought for transport, is not the way to plan things. It is not the way to plan things going forward.
To further support the sector, we approved a range of measures to mitigate rising fuel costs, including the transport sector through the road transport support scheme. That will support bus and coach operators providing TFI Local Link services and school transport. If we look at our charging structure in Ireland for public transport, it compares very favourably with our European counterparts. We have broadened free services with children up to the age of nine getting free travel, the senior free travel and the companion pass, which is being rolled out. We keep the fare structure and the fares under constant monitoring. We review it on a regular basis.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-30