Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, the National Transport Authority, NTA, is the statutory body charged with regulating public transport fares and I have no legal function in the matter. On 30 October 2015, the NTA published its fares determination for 2016. In setting fares, the NTA takes a number of factors into consideration including, of course, the financial contribution that fare revenue makes toward the overall funding of good-quality public transport services. However, there are other important factors which it also considers, including the role the fare structure can play in ensuring greater use of public transport. This year's fare determination builds on the work of recent years in simplifying what has historically been a quite complicated fare structure system. In addition, the recent determination continues the initiative to encourage people to switch to using the Leap card. The recent announcement means that the public now knows that the Leap card will always be 20% cheaper than cash for a single journey.

Along with its work on simplifying fare structures and encouraging the switch to Leap card, the NTA has also delivered a number of significant cross-operator initiatives such as real-time information at bus stops, via apps and online, the national journey planner, investment in the bus fleet and on-board wi-fi, improved public transport maps and the reconfiguration of regional city bus services.

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