Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Richmond, who came up with some interesting views regarding serving the public and anticipating difficulties. He also mentioned the NTA and that we need to deliver short-term solutions to short-term problems. We sometimes need outside-the-box thinking and I appreciate that.

I want to advise the Deputy that the introduction of the Transport for Ireland, TFI, 90-minute fare last year, as envisaged by the BusConnects programme, has hugely benefited public transport users in south Dublin. The TFI 90-minute boundary for rail services encompasses all zone 1 to 4 journeys taken from Dublin city centre. Accordingly, it extends to cover south Dublin.

Residents can avail of this promotional fare of €2.30 when using a Leap card, allowing them the option to transfer between Dublin Bus, Luas, most DART and commuter rail and all Go-Ahead Ireland services in Dublin as long as they touch on their last journey within 90 minutes of the first. The Deputy will agree that this allows for greater enhanced integration of public transport services. That does not address the Deputy's issue of trying to ensure there are extra services, however, which as he rightly said, serve the public and address the anticipated difficulties.

The roll-out of the new orbital bus routes and spines under BusConnects, as well as extensive planned works on the DART+ coastal and DART+ south-west projects, in conjunction with the continued work on key infrastructure projects including cycling facilities, will greatly enhance the current offering of public transport and active travel services in the south Dublin region.

As I said, in tandem with this, the introduction of the young adult cards and a 20% average fare discount means that 2022 looks to be an exciting year for public transport provision across the country as we slowly return to pre-pandemic travel patterns. I hope that clarifies a few issues. I will bring the Deputy's concerns to the Minister. I thank him for raising these very interesting and informative issues.

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