Public Transport
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I thank the three Deputies for their contributions and for raising this Topical Issue. I assure them that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2026 the Department of Transport secured €940 million of funding for public service obligation and TFI Local Link services. This is a significant 43% uplift, an increase from €658.4 million in 2025. As I said earlier, Ireland's package of fare measures compares very favourably with many international peers. The challenge is to balance affordability for passengers with the long-term financial sustainability needed to expand and improve public transport services. The NTA has identified approximately 140 new service initiatives and capacity enhancements as part of its 2027 budget submission to the Department of Transport. Subject to the outcome of the annual Estimates process, this represents the biggest in-year and year-on-year enhancement of services for many years. The changes also represent an important step towards standardising fares nationwide in line with the national fares strategy published in 2023.
The Government and the Department of Transport, in partnership with the NTA and operators, remain fully committed to delivering a public transport system that is reliable, accessible, affordable, and capable of meeting the growing needs of communities across the country. It is, therefore, essential that the public transport system remains well funded and responsive to passenger needs and adequate fare revenue is critical to support this. Again, I thank the three Deputies for raising this matter.

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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