Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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The recently announced increases in suburban rail fares are due to come into effect on 1 December. The scale of some of the increases is sizable and disproportionately affects one train line. The original destination zones along the line from Maynooth to Dublin city centre showed a clear pattern of having been pushed out by one zone into a more expensive price structure. Leixlip was in zone 3 but is now in zone 4 if one travels to the city. Even short hop journeys have had their original destination zones changed. Leixlip Confey to Maynooth is now considered to be a zone 3 trip meaning that local journeys are now stuck with disproportionately high fares, which puts people off using the service. Leap card users on the route will now pay an extra 37 cent per trip. There are 11,000 students attending college in Maynooth and 45% of them originate in Dublin west or north Kildare. It is not just people commuting to work and students who are affected. There is a good mix of people who will be impacted.

The aim appears to be to rebalance the original destination zones and if that was fair, it would be one thing. However, the result is that a significant number of people face substantial increases of between 16% and 18% from the original destination zones. Leixlip is 20 km from the city centre and there are two stations there whereas Bray is 34 km from the city centre. It is more expensive to go from the place that is 20 km from the city centre than from the place that is 34 km away. Even so, the town that is 34 km away has a better and more frequent service. There is certainly a reblance in terms of Sallins and Kilcock, which will have their fares reduced and will now come into the suburban service where they should have been in the first place. It is interesting to note that it is a shorter distance from Sallins to the city centre than from Bray, but the service terminates not in the city centre but at Heuston. Passengers must then get on the Luas for yet another journey. It is not even a comparable service in terms of quality.

One must ask if it is a fair increase given that distances do not seem to make a difference. It depends just on the location and the particular line involved. It now costs most people €36 per week or €145 per month just to get to work. It is a sizeable increase. Passenger journeys on trains have been increasing since 2014 and we all welcome that. There has been growth of 5% between 2015 and 2016 and it looks like the trend will continue. The commuter belt areas are those which show the greatest level of improvement. It is important that this continues because there is a significant congestion issue. One only has to listen to "AA Roadwatch" in the morning to know that the N4 and N7 feature every day. They are the roads which correlate to the two train lines to which I have referred. Congestion issues are increasing rapidly and there are obvious environmental impacts. Climate change comes into play in terms of meeting those targets. If we are going to make it more expensive and unattractive to use rail services, growth will not continue. I do not see the sense in it.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Murphy for bringing this to my attention. I was aware of the changes in fares. I do not know why she picks on poor Bray, which happens to be my own nearest station, for this particular one.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I thought the Minister would understand that.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I understand and will certainly look at the need for consistency all around. The reason this has happened is that various stations have been moved from one zone to another and it is not purely, simply and clinically all a matter of distance. I will pass the message to NTA and see what sort of reply I get.

Last week, the National Transport Authority, NTA, published its fares determinations for the year ahead. These determinations are published annually by the NTA in line with its statutory powers under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008. It is important to note that this process and the powers afforded to the NTA are statutory ones and, much as I might like to have it, I do not have any function as Minister with regard to the level of fares. The statutory role of the NTA allows it independently to examine the level, scope and nature of fares across our public transport system. Since it assumed its regulatory powers in this area, the NTA has sought to simplify what was an extremely complicated and cumbersome system. The system differed from operator to operator and suffered from a myriad of different and sometimes overlapping fare types and offers. It was a system which also gave rise to numerous inconsistencies and anomalies. It may be that Deputy Murphy has pointed out some which still exist. I reassure Members that these fare determinations are not developed on a whim, but are rather a consequence of a strategy by the NTA to simplify and regularise how we charge for public transport services.

Fares are set with the aim of maintaining customer support and passenger numbers while ensuring financial stability for the operators. In recent years, a key thrust of the policy has been to encourage people to switch to Leap cards rather than cash fares. Members will agree that the development of the Leap card has been a great success and I am sure they all welcome the significant discounts it provides on fares across all modes of public transport. This year's fare determination sees no increases for around 75% of all passengers using our bus and rail services, which is a benefit to the majority. As part of the long-term strategy I spoke about a minute ago, the NTA has been seeking since 2012 to overhaul rail fares across the greater Dublin area network and to introduce a more logical and fair distance-based model. This has involved examining approximately 1,200 origin and destination station pairs across the entire network. The examination concluded that fares between some station pairs were set particularly low for various historic, commercial and operational reasons and were not in line with the fares other passengers were paying for journeys of similar distance.

This year the final 261 station pairs were examined, with the vast majority seeing a decrease in their fares for next year as a result. The overhaul has also included the inclusion of Sallins and Kilcock stations within the short hop zone, which will result in significant savings for the many people who use the stations. I have no doubt that Deputy Murphy welcomes those changes and the savings they will deliver to constituents in Kildare North.

However, inevitably a small number, 36 to be exact, or around 3% of the total number of possible fares, will see a fare increase. This is as a result of the previously unfair level of fares when compared with other station fares across the whole network. In terms of Leixlip, this means that the trip to Pearse Station in Dublin has been moved from zone 3 to zone 4. A single adult Leap fair will now cost €2.93, as opposed to €2.46. I am aware that some local media have reported increases to Maynooth-city centre fares. However, that is incorrect and there is no change in the cost of a single fare between Maynooth and the city centre.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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There are three ways to fund public transport and I accept that there is a statutory function for the DTA. One way is to increase fares. The other element is to reduce costs and the third is subvention. A decision has been made in the absence of adequate subvention, but it is a short-term strategy. Getting people onto public transport will save money in the long term by virtue of the kind of obligations for which we will have to shell out hard cash in terms of our climate obligations.

I welcome the changes to the Sallins and Kilcock fares. It was a disgrace that they were not included in the suburban area, given that they are suburban stations. I have made the argument for a long time that they were located outside of the suburban service when in fact they were suburban services. I do not want to pick on Bray, but one can choose a location and make a direct comparison. I would not increase fares. We need a reliable service, which is the first thing people want. We also have to have an affordable service. A direct comparison based on distance shows that the comparison is not fair, and it is a valid point to make.

The change that will come into effect regarding Kilcock cannot happen until mid-2017 because of technology in stations. The situation will, unfortunately, continue for another six months or so. The Maynooth train line was upgraded and capacity was doubled through funding from EU Structural Funds. The upgrade was sought, as part of the Luas package, because of the degree of congestion at the time, which made Dublin an unattractive place. We now have a good line, but we are making it unattractive for people to use it. It is a retrograde step.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I would like to take up a couple of the Deputy's points. She is correct in that subvention, costs or an increase in revenue are the only solutions to the problem. I am sure the Deputy realises, as much as anybody else in the House, that the condition of Íarnród Éireann is worse than critical. We have an annual crisis. As a result, I have commissioned the rail review which will be released next week. It will address the three problems in the broader sense.

The Deputy will be aware that the subvention will increase for Íarnród Éireann next year. Increasing revenue by raising fares is not something of which I am in favour but, as the Deputy acknowledged, it is not something over which I have any great power. The net effect of this will not increase costs. Rather, it is an effort to be more equitable and measure fares as consistently as possible in terms of distance. That is done by categorising places into different zones.

The Deputy made a comparison with Bray, which is a particularly strong case. She knows I have a vested interest in the station - it is not in my constituency but it is on my doorstep. I will ask the NTA to examine that case and revert to the Deputy because it may be indicative of distances not being completely consistent throughout the country. One of the areas in her constituency is obviously suffering as a result. An adult journey from Houston Station to Sallins in Naas which currently costs €8.70 will be reduced to €4.60 or €3.56.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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It was disgracefully high.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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It was very high but it has been reduced by half, which is a dramatic reduction. I am sure the Deputy is grateful for the saving of at least €4.10, or almost 50%. I am glad I was able to respond to her.