Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The park and ride facilities are being provided by the taxpayer through the grants given to Iarnród Éireann. In Gormanstown, in the Minister's constituency, Iarnród Éireann is charging for the use of the park and ride facilities. The taxpayer has paid for them and Iarnród Éireann is hiking up the prices on people who want to use public transport. It is inequitable to take taxpayers money to build park and ride facilities and then charge for using them. People who use rail transport are very angry, particularly in the Minister's constituency. Will he address this issue with Iarnród Éireann and ensure that taxpayers' money is not used to generate more money for itself? It should be running a more efficient service in any event.

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