Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to hear the witnesses are open to the idea of free public transport. I realise that there is a limit to what academics and NGOs can argue for. What the witnesses are arguing for is relatively conservative compared with what other cities have done around free public transport. I am glad the witnesses are open to the idea. The crisis we have is not an ordinary one.

I am sure everyone knows the now Greta Thunberg's legendary quote that we ought to act like our house is on fire. What the Government has put out has pushed them a little further than they would have gone a year or two ago. We can thank the young people who took to the streets and the fright many people received during the elections. However, we need not just radical changes but also revolutionary ones globally to tackle climate change if we are talking about a window of ten to 12 years. Governments are still standing with their arms folded. My ideological view is that as long as the economy and the transport sector are in private hands, it will be extremely difficult to make the changes that are necessary.

It is good that we will have a session on transport. There was a special conference early last year on free public transport when the figure was about 100 cities. It has increased and now includes Luxembourg. Initially, it was treated as if the idea was absurd and it was said there would have to be huge investment. The Taoiseach said we did not have the capacity. He was asked about it yesterday by The Journal, as was the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, who pooh-poohed the idea even more because he was so committed to private transport. The Taoiseach and I represent the same constituency. He has noted that he comes from the commuter belt and that he would be very worried about the impact if we had it straightaway, but nobody is saying we should do it straightaway. Most countries do it one year after it is announced. The bus fleet could be increased straightaway, or quickly. It would also be necessary to examine light rail systems. I will carry out some research in that regard. In this country they are not built quickly, but I have seen reports that they have been built in two years elsewhere. If it is really considered to be an emergency, that is what must happen.

Some of the benefits of investing in public transport include reduced numbers of road traffic accidents in all of the cities in question, cleaner air, less noise, faster emergency response times which also save money and the abolition of ticket infrastructure. People may recall the time when there were toll booths on the M50. I went through them daily and it added about 30 minutes to journey times. There is a saving to be made on infrastructure. There is the use of the free travel pass at limited times, but in these cases more people started to use public transport, which enhanced commerce in cities and businesses started to make more money. People in parts of Clonee or Mulhudart are marooned and isolated because they cannot get into the city. When I was teaching in west Tallaght I recall bringing some of the pupils into the city centre which was like a different universe for some of them because they did not spend much time there. For so long there has been neoliberal concept that everything must be paid for, but in the past many countries had free public transport, which is probably why countries such as Poland have so many cities where it is provided. It has been introduced in many cities in China. In Tallinn in Estonia passenger numbers increased eightfold very quickly when free public transport was introduced. There was also a tourism boom as more people visited the city. Yes, there would be an initial investment which would require progressive taxation of wealth to pay for free public transport. It cannot come only from ordinary workers and the working class all the time, which is the Government's default position. It must come from huge increases in taxation. As Dublin is now the slowest moving city in Europe, we must examine this issue.