Public Transport
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Richard Boyd Barrett (PBP), Dún Laoghaire

People are struggling with the cost of living, including the cost of getting in and out of work and of transport generally, and we need to increase the number of people using public transport for climate reasons. The Government's response is to increase fares to make the cost-of-living situation worse for people and to reduce the number of people using public transport. The first point is self-evident: the 15% increase is a significant hit for people who use public transport, particularly working people who use it day in, day out. We now have it confirmed by the NTA - which is absolutely extraordinary - that it took this decision knowing it would reduce the number of people using the public transport system, when everybody is supposed to be committed to increasing the use of public transport to reduce congestion and to assist with climate action. How can the Minister of State justify that? It is beyond belief. It must be that the Government does not want people to use public transport.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-17