James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 13, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:“Report on the Possible Extension of the TaxSaver Commuter Ticket Scheme to include annual parking tickets

10. The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dail Eireann a report on the possibility of extending the TaxSaver Commuter Ticket Scheme to include parking costs associated with public transport.”.

I thank Deputy McGrath for tabling this amendment on Committee Stage, which I will speak to on Report Stage. I tabled the same amendment last year and the former Minister, Deputy Noonan, and I had some discussion on it in the House at the time. The Minister has now changed and I wish the new Minister well in his position. The outcome of the debate, however, was that the Department and the former Minister were to review the situation. I am not sure if that review has taken place. I hope it has and that it will inform this discussion.

The amendment would require the Minister, within three months of the passing of the Act, to prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the possibility of extending the tax saver commuter ticket scheme to include parking costs associated with public transport. In essence, the amendment would mean that, when one purchases a ticket for a train, bus, Luas or another of the multiple different public transport options to commute primarily into Dublin but also the main regional urban centres, one would be able to purchase the add-on of a parking ticket along with the fare. The House will be aware of the extremely successful tax saver scheme whereby one can buy an annual train, bus or Luas ticket and have the cost deducted against tax. It is efficient, cost-effective and convenient. It also promotes consistency of behaviour because people travelling on a tax saver ticket do not make the choice of driving or getting the train or bus to work each day. They form a pattern of behaviour in how they go about their business.

The benefits of promoting public transport are many and are probably well-understood. However, they might be worth recapping. We have gridlock on many of our roads. Flooding was exacerbated today in my county of Kildare and probably in many other places. However, we have it on normal days as well. We have congestion on our motorways. A recent Irish Timesreport on the M50 noted how it is gridlocked and has reached capacity at a stage when we hope growth is still occurring in the economy and it is likely that the load on the motorway will be increased again. The M4 and M7 and other major motorways are the same. Unfortunately, we see the effects of this in the backlog of traffic going into our city centres and the knock-on effects on quality of life and climate change. I asked the Taoiseach last week about climate change targets and it is likely that the State will miss its targets, which could result in fines of €1 billion to €1.5 billion, which is pertinent to the debate on this and future Finance Bills. It is, therefore, in everyone's interest that we highlight climate change and promote public transport.

This is a good example of using the taxation system to reward and incentivise certain responsible public policy behaviours at the individual level.

In the real world, while we would like to see everyone's journey start and finish on public transport, we must accept that it is often impractical to make the entire journey in this way. I refer to the commuter belt, in particular. I represent Kildare North but my point applies to the wider area of sprawl around Dublin. Very many people in slightly outlying areas may have to drop children to a crèche or perform other duties before they embark on their journey to work. They must, of necessity, drive part of the way, park and then change to another mode of transport going to the city centre.

Park-and-ride facilities are becoming more critical in the circumstances. As of yet, however, we do not have any integrated ticketing or system whereby one can have a combined parking and rail ticket. In recent years, Irish Rail moved to introduce an annual ticket at certain stations but, because it is not incorporated into the taxsaver scheme, it makes it that much more difficult to incentivise. The objective of the scheme I propose is to include parking costs, paid for on an annual basis, as an add-on to the public transport fare. The whole sum would be tax deductible to incentivise behaviour to make it easier and more convenient for the rail user or bus user. There also would be a knock-on benefit in terms of consistency and reliability in respect of the journey. One would not be fumbling for change every morning at the train station or trying to load the meter while watching a train pull away from the platform in front of one. The frustration of the daily commuting experience could be alleviated slightly by having a measure such as the one I propose in place.

In essence, the suggestion is that the taxsaver scheme, which has been very successful in influencing public transport behaviour, be extended to include the cost of parking. It was not always a cost but has been in recent years. The proposal would enable the commuter to make a single purchase once per year, with everything included. This would be good public policy. It would not be terribly difficult to implement. We may discuss the implementation details in a moment but I hope the Minister will look on my proposal favourably. As I stated, the previous Minister was positive about my amendment when I introduced it last year. I await the current Minister's response. My proposal would be a sensible and pragmatic measure that would reward good behaviour.

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