Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is a fair question. The position in respect of Irish Rail is quite difficult.

The improvements in motorways have greatly affected Irish Rail. It is not just in our area that the rail passenger numbers and revenue are dropping substantially; it is something that is obviously affecting various routes throughout the network. A number of programmes have been introduced to try to improve the service. Irish Rail has appointed a commercial director to try to improve the offering to consumers. In particular, there will be promotions to try to encourage many as people as possible to book in advance. Passengers booking online in advance will get significant savings. Irish Rail will also consider packaging the whole experience.

Given the cost of tolls, parking, etc., for people coming to Dublin, their experience on the train is far better and they will get more work done. For those with a Leap card they can use it for all modes of public transport to get around Dublin. We are looking at that aspect to see how Irish Rail can improve its service offering and encourage more people to use the services. Many other important improvements in service are also taking place, including offering Wi-Fi on trains, which is important for business travellers particularly on the Cork to Dublin route. There is a range of other services to make the passengers' journeys better.

Public transport by its nature is not profit making and will always need to be subsidised. There is hardly a country in the world where that does not happen. While it needs to be subsidised, we need to minimise the impact on the taxpayer. That is why we will be pushing Irish Rail to make the improvements I mentioned and others in order to get more people on those lines.