Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the long overdue announcement yesterday of the site for a new secondary school in south Kildare, which will be located on the former Magee Barracks. It also raises a number of questions, however, foremost among which is what the students who do not have a place for next year will do. We have a meeting this evening with the Minister for Education at which I hope some answers will be forthcoming. It also raises questions about the Educate Together model announced in 2018 for the school and whether that will still be the model.

It is regrettable that the site is not located in or near the Curragh. It is in Kildare town. I and colleagues in the House have spoken previously about the dereliction in the Curragh. I hope investment will be forthcoming for the Curragh. The Minister spoke previously of such investment but I now believe that because this secondary school is being taken from the Curragh, we need to concentrate our efforts on developing and investing in the Curragh.

I raised previously in the House the totally unfair and unacceptable difference in rail prices in County Kildare. The National Transport Authority, NTA, is engaged in a public consultation on the greater Dublin transport strategy, which will remain open until this coming Friday, 17 December. I encourage all those who use rail transport in south Kildare to get involved because we need a single pricing structure for the area rather than the various prices that are currently in place.

In the greater Dublin area, the number of daily rail commuters has increased from 31,000 to 150,000 in 2019 in pre-Covid times. However, the difference in price for a one-way ticket can be as much as €10 if one compares the €3.80 Leap fare from Sallins in County Kildare to Dublin with the €13.55 fare from Newbridge. The journey between those two stations is just 13 km. That difference is totally unacceptable. Four stations in Kildare, namely, Athy, Monasterevin, Kildare town and Newbridge, are included in this strategy but do not fall under the short hop zone pricing of the other stations in the county.

Last week, the Central Statistics Office, CSO, confirmed that transport is one of the biggest drivers of the increased cost of living. A person living in Kildare South can experience this daily, yet even the increased fuel prices will not stop hard-pressed commuters from saving anything up to €200 per month by driving their car to Sallins station and bypassing the four stations in south Kildare.

If the Government is serious about tackling the climate crisis and promoting public transport, we must create a fair single pricing fare for those living in this area, rather than having the roads approaching the capital turning into ever bigger car parks. There are a number of important rural transport issues. I ask for a debate on them early in the new year.