Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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11. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has considered that free access to shared cars or hourly car library schemes should be part of free public transport; what he anticipates the impact of this could be on reducing private car ownership and use; if this was taken into account by a report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20785/23]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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A Greenpeace report published today has found that Dublin is the capital with the least affordable and most complicated ticketing system in all of Europe. Luxembourg, Tallinn and Valletta, where public transport is free, are rated top. Has the Minister considered the impact that including free access to car library schemes as part of free public transport would have on reducing private car ownership and use and was this taken into account in the Ernst & Young Global Limited report?

Could I politely suggest that the Green Party Minister might pay more attention to what Greenpeace has to say rather than paying corporate accountancy firms to undermine the importance of free public transport?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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There have been significant initiatives in the lifetime of the Government to improve public transport, particularly its affordability. There was a 20% reduction for all users and a 60% reduction for those under 24. In Dublin, 90-minute fares were introduced, so you can go from one public transport mode to another with a single fare. Only last week, new fare structures were introduced that recognise the system was overly complicated and that there were inequities in the scheme. The new fare structure is designed to improve the overall provision. There are significant changes coming and we will have to introduce further changes, many of which will include shared mobility initiatives, which have a key role.

We would need more precise details on the free car access scheme the Deputy proposes. I will welcome those details when he responds to me. Shared transport is of increasing importance as a strategy in our effort to reduce emissions from transport and is critical in reducing our dependency on a car-based system. Last year, the Government approved the publication of the new sustainable mobility policy that noted the trend toward shared mobility globally and also noted this trend was evident in Irish cities, through shared car and bike schemes already in operation.

My Department is currently exploring the development of shared mobility options, including an e-mobility hub model for the five cities, consisting of charging infrastructure for shared electric mobility solutions such as e-bikes and e-scooters, in addition to car clubs operating electric vehicles, EVs, for short-term hire. The core idea of the hub is that it provides readily accessible, emissions-free transport options to the public, making it easier for people to make the kinds of journeys that can help us to achieve our climate and transport objectives.

A report commissioned by the National Transport Authority, NTA, examines the impact of free fares on public transport. It concludes that funding a free public transport system would cost an additional €540 million in Exchequer funding per annum at a minimum. Free public transport would see a reduction in walking and cycling and a reduction in car travel of only 1%. The NTA report is the latter one to which the Deputy referred.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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That report was effectively rigged. It managed to come up with a car usage reduction figure of 1% by running simulated modelling based on current trends across the country, where public transport is mainly poor or non-existent. Most car users do not have access to public transport alternatives, meaning that making public transport free would not change their car usage. The point, however, is that there does not have to be a choice between expanding access to public transport and making public transport free; we need to do both. That is precisely where the idea of a shared car or hourly car library scheme comes in. There are journeys that people take occasionally that are not easy to take on public transport, therefore requiring the use of a car. At the moment, the main choice people have is to own a car, an environmentally costly thing to build and an expensive thing to run. It makes much more sense to have cars available on a common basis, where possible. There are private schemes of this kind, such as that of GoCar, but such a scheme should be part of the public offering. The Ernst & Young report did not take this into account and assumed that if someone needed to take a private car journey occasionally, he or she would need to own a car.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am keen to get the details. I used to do a lot of hitching over the years. Is that what the Deputy is talking about? Is it a hitching scheme?

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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No. It would be like using GoCar but through a public system.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Would the driver be paid?

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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The driver would have access to the car and get to use it. The driver would be an ordinary householder.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Our mobility hubs will provide a very good example of that. I look forward to rolling them out right across the country.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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The only aspect of Ireland's public transport ticketing system that the Greenpeace report praises is free public transport for people over 66, people with disabilities and carers. It states that, apart from this, there are no best-practice elements in the ticketing system. It finds that Dublin has the second most expensive daily public transport costs in Europe, second only to London, which of course has a much better transport system. The report praises free public transport and climate tickets as some of the most popular policy interventions to tackle the climate crisis. It states that if even 5% of car trips were shifted to public transport throughout the EU, oil demand could be reduced by around 7.9 million tonnes. We can already see what impact free public transport would have from the large increase in public transport use that was a consequence of the 20% reduction in fares last year and the 50% reduction for young people. The bottom line is that we do not have to choose between investing in expanding access to public transport and making public transport free. We will have a cumulative surplus of €65 billion over the next five years. This is what we need to do for the climate and to address the cost-of-living crisis.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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On the basis of the initiatives I mentioned, including a reduction in fares of about 60% for those under 24, we are seeing a significant increase in public transport here by comparison with other European cities. The Deputy is effectively saying we should provide cars to people for free.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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A certain amount-----

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Would that not just blow our climate budget and public transport system? Free cars for everyone would-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Not for each individual.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Just some individuals.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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No, not to any individual. They would be collective, for a library.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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So everyone would have a free car.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Everyone would have the use of a car for a certain number of hours per month.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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In that would lie madness, given the traffic implications, to say the least.