Bus Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Thomas Gould (SF), Cork North-Central

We were told in Cork the fair increases were to pay for the 90-minute fares that were to come in. This is nonsense. It was done when the schools and the colleges were on holidays. It was snuck in over the summer with the thought that people would not spot it, but I spotted it. People who get the bus contacted me because they spotted it and could feel the difference. We are now being told more hardware will be needed for contactless payments. Will fares go up again when that comes in? People are struggling. There is a cost-of-living crisis. The cost for adults is an extra €240 a year. They cannot afford to drive and now they cannot afford to take the bus. Where was the feasibility audit done to see if people can afford this? The Minister of State talks about the PSO levy, about climate change and about getting people out of cars. How does putting up the price of buses at the same time as trying to get people out of cars work?
I have another point to make. We have one park-and-ride in Cork. There is gridlock in Cork city. Why are park-and-rides not being rolled out north, west and east of the city so we can get people out of cars? We need have buses for them to get into the city.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24