Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)

Good morning, Minister of State. It has always been the Labour Party's vision to invest in public transport, to continue to progressively reduce the cost of public transport and to focus on increasing the reliability of our train services. In general, it is great to see the fare reductions and the expansion of the commuter zones that have come in this week. This is a positive step forward in making transport accessible and affordable for everybody and helping to ease the cost of living and encourage more sustainable travel choices. However, can the Minister of State please explain the rationale behind grouping the Skerries and Balbriggan train stations in commuter zone 2 alongside towns in Kildare, Wicklow and Louth rather than in zone 1 with the other Dublin stations? The decision seems unfair to the residents of the two towns, who are still part of north County Dublin, but also counterproductive from a climate action point of view by making train travel more expensive in the outer areas, which are often under-utilised. This encourages car use, resulting in more cars on the M50, leading to an increase in air pollution and additional barriers to promoting active travel.

I read last night an e-mail from a constituent who has been using the train since 1983. Her fare for her journey from Skerries, which is now being moved into zone 2, has increased by 30%. Another constituent, a student who goes from the Rush-Lusk station to Balbriggan for school, has seen her fare rise, under the new fare structure, from 65 cent to €1.95 – a threefold increase in a week. This is similar to what obtains for students going the opposite way, crossing zone 2 to zone 1, from Skerries and Balbriggan into town. While it might not seem significant in isolation, over a school week or year it adds up and places unnecessary burdens on families who are already struggling with food costs and utility bills.

A father called me last night over his daughter, whose Leap card ran out of money. Her friends were able to sort her out but there was unnecessary stress and panic while they figured out a way to get back from Balbriggan to Rush-Lusk. The hikes are not compatible with the Government's commitments to affordability and encouraging people to use public transport, despite this being the goal.

I put up a petition yesterday – I am not one for petitions generally – to test the waters on this and ask for Skerries and Balbriggan to be moved back into zone 1. The route used to be in the short-hop zone. After 24 hours, there have been up to 1,100 responses, despite my not being known for my social media wizardry. Could we tease this out? Can we examine again the inclusion of Skerries and Balbriggan stations in zone 1, rather than zone 2, where they are now, and at fare structures for students who travel across zones 1 and 2 – say, from Rush-Lusk to Balbriggan – who are being charged three times the rate they were charged a week ago for a two-station station journey? Can serious consideration be given to restoring across zones 1 and 2 the student fares that applied last week?

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