Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)

Tá mé lánsásta a bheith anseo inniu, mar Aire Iompair agus Aire Aeráide, Fuinnimh agus Comhshaoil, chun an cháinaisnéis a phlé. I am pleased to discuss next year's budget across the Departments of Transport and Climate, Energy and the Environment. Budget 2026 provides almost €6 billion in investment in these Departments. Is í seo an infheistíocht is mó in iompar poiblí, fuinneamh agus comhshaol riamh. Tá níos mó daoine ag úsáid iompar poiblí ná riamh. Tá níos mó daoine ag baint leas as deontais fhuinnimh chomh maith. Is mian liom leanúnachas a fheiceáil ionas go mbeidh an dul chun cinn atá déanta ag leanúint ar aghaidh. Is é sin an fáth a bhfuil an buiséad seo chomh tábhachtach. Caithfidh muid oibriú go crua chun seachadadh a dhéanamh dár muintir fud fad na tíre. Fundamentally, this Government knows that a strong economy is vital to creating a flourishing society, providing opportunities to our citizens and providing the resources we need to provide the important social services. This has been reflected in both the Department of Transport and the Department of climate. I have prioritised measures to accelerate Ireland's green transition and to provide better services to citizens across the country.

Turning first to transport, I am pleased to confirm that the budget for next year will be €4.74 billion, an increase of €840 million relative to last year. A key highlight is the unprecedented increase of over 43% in the core allocation to public service obligation transport, which now stands at €940 million. It is a critical fund for us to be able to subsidise public transport across the country and to make sure our fares remain affordable and accessible for people. These services are not just about transport. They are about connectivity, inclusion and social cohesion, especially for those in rural areas and those who rely on public transport every day. In 2024, we reached a milestone of 1 million daily journeys and 343 million public transport journeys for the whole year, a 10.6% increase from 2023. We have recently extended free transport to include children under the age of nine and with the assistance of my good friend and colleague, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, we introduced free travel for over-70s companions. Together, these measures provide a firm foundation to advance the Government’s commitment to establishing a sustainable funding model for the public service obligation programme as set out in the programme for Government.

I will turn to disability measures. As we committed in the national human rights strategy for disabled persons, we are providing record levels of funding toward accessibility retrofit programmes to fund upgrades on older stations. Last week, I convened the ministerial accessible transport forum to meet disability groups to discuss the priority transport actions.

We are also progressing transformative infrastructure projects, each designed to provide better transport options to passengers and to decarbonise our transport systems. These include programmes that people will know well such as the DART+ programme, DART+ West and DART+ Coastal North. In Cork, phase 1 of the area commuter rail programme advances with double tracking and signalling. In Dublin, construction will begin on two BusConnects core bus corridors.

On road safety, which is critical, an increase of €211 million brings the allocation for national and regional and local road networks and road safety measures to €1.72 billion. This supports maintenance and repair of roads and new strategic projects right across the country. People will agree that our active travel programme has been very successful also. It is changing how communities interact and travel. We are committing €362.6 million for walking and cycling infrastructure, including greenways and, importantly, the safe routes to school, in which there are currently 412 schools participating.

In aviation, €39.6 million will support regional airports and ensure continued connectivity across Ireland. A total of €162.5 million is allocated to the Irish Coast Guard and the maritime sector, which the Minister of State, Deputy Canney will also reference in his remarks.

On electric vehicles, we have substantial supports. We have reached our target this year of overall EV usage in the country of 196,000 vehicles. We are now expanding our EV charging network. We have retained the grants within that with assistance from our colleagues, the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers, we have ensured that benefit in kind, BIK, supports, reliefs and grants are in place.

Energy, climate and environment are a critically important area for us. This budget gives us €1.1 billion for next year. This is in addition to the €3.5 billion which we will be investing in ESB Networks and EirGrid. It is the first time they will receive separate equity from the State. It will allow them to leverage up to invest between €16 billion and €18 billion over this five-year period in the resilience of our grid, ensuring we have more renewable energy in our grid, and expansion, distribution and generation.

Critically, in respect of energy affordability and retrofitting, with the assistance of the Minister for Social Protection, the Department of Social Protection has brought forward significant measures to increase the fuel allowance and to extend it to over 50,000 additional households in receipt of the working family payment. We have also secured a five-year reduction in VAT on electricity and gas, at a cost of about €254 million. For households, that is an average saving of about €100. Indeed, we do need to do more, which is why retrofitting is so critically important. For 2026 we have allocated just short of €560 million for retrofitting. That will support 65,000 retrofit upgrades in 2026. So far we have retrofitted nearly 186,000 homes. Those retrofitting programmes ensure that we have permanent savings for families, and that we are using heat and electricity appropriately. We estimate that the average savings per household are in the region of €1,000. It is critically important that we are going to be able to expand that further.

The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund was established as part of budget 2025. It and the Future Ireland Fund were mentioned yesterday by one of our colleagues. By the end of next year, we will have about €24 billion in those two funds. They are the windfall surpluses we have put away to invest in our infrastructure. The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment has received an allocation of €500 million for projects which will focus on developing new markets to accelerate the decarbonisation of Ireland's energy system, in particular for biomethane and district heating. These are two areas where we have vast potential in the near term to deliver more clean energy generation. Certainly with district heating, I am absolutely convinced that in a very short space of time, we can accelerate the use of district heating across the country.

At its core, budget 2026 seeks to protect the jobs of today and create the jobs of tomorrow. The transport and energy sectors have a huge rule to play in this. Already, there are more than 26,000 people employed across the energy and retrofitting sectors, with thousands of others working across our transport networks and in aviation. The budget is a good start for this Government and a good start for the country in relation to the new Government's term. We are investing in our people and infrastructure and protecting those who need our assistance.

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