Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The fare reduction is welcome; there is no question about that. It has made a difference, so imagine what a difference it could make if the Minister's party's policy were implemented and we reduced the fares so far that they no longer existed. Imagine what that would mean for people in terms of the money in their pocket and the ease of just knowing they can jump on a bus, train or whatever and get where they need to go.

This is always the debate. The Minister says "No" and that the key thing is for us to have accessible, expanded public transport. We agree. We do not counterpose those things. Our budget statement outlines the cost of making public transport free, which is about €500 million, but we do not just do that. We say we need to massively expand public transport, because it is all very well for it to be free but if people do not have a bus, train or whatever else taking them where they need to go, then public transport is not going to be an option for them. We need to do both. Is the Minister saying that Green Party policy has been abandoned, that he is not fighting for it any more or that he does not think it is a good idea because he is in favour of doing other things?

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