Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Further to what I was saying a moment ago, I fully agree that we need to encourage more people to use public transport. That is why we are investing in significant service and infrastructure improvements as well as funding various fare initiatives that have been introduced in recent budgets which complement the heavily discounted fares already available for under-18s on PSO services. However, all these improvements and initiatives require significant levels of funding, which means we need to think carefully about how best to use available sources of funding.

There is a wealth of data available to inform our decisions in that regard. The CSO’s national travel survey shows us the type of barriers that prevent greater usage of public transport. Those barriers primarily relate to issues like service availability, which is the question of whether there is a service available, service frequency, which is the question of whether services come at times that suit the individual, and service reliability, which is the question of whether someone can rely on the bus or train to be there when he or she needs it. We are tackling those barriers through initiatives like investing in BusConnects, which I mentioned earlier, as well as enhanced town services in bigger towns and Connecting Ireland in rural areas. On rail, we are supporting improvements across the network on both commuter and intercity services.

The Deputy is right to say fares play a part, especially for young adults, and again that is evident from the national travel survey. Around 9% of young adults say the cost of public transport is an issue and it is that cohort we are supporting through the young adult card and student Leap card, which reduces fares by 50%. The data also shows that another 8% of people think we should make it easier to use public transport and it is that cohort we are helping with the TFI 90 fare initiative.

As a final point, other data in recent years showed the cost-of-living pressures people were facing, which we addressed through reducing all PSO fares by 20%. That sort of evidence of improvements is going to be key. We will continue to review and look at the whole variety of different issues, including fare costs and the level of PSO subvention. There is a particular issue for young people around school travel and that is another connected issue which the Department of Education is responsible for. I will be happy to discuss this with the Deputy.

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