Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, 14 December, was International Sign Language Day. We should always celebrate that day because this House, under the Cathaoirleach's leadership, was responsible for the Irish Sign Language Act, which was signed into law on 24 December 2017. During the pandemic, we saw, front and centre, how important signers are. I offer a shout-out to the people who work in sign language, train our signers and use the service.

I previously raised the situation where people in rural Ireland pay more for their train and bus fares than people living in suburban Dublin and the suburbs of other cities. It is unacceptable that people travelling from Ennis to a college in Galway pay 40% more for their rail fare than people living in Maynooth and going to college in Dublin. It is the same with buses. Somebody living in Ennis who is studying in the University of Limerick pays more to travel by bus, with Bus Éireann, than somebody living in Leixlip who is studying in UCD. We are either serious about public transport or we are not. If we are serious, we would create a level, equitable playing pitch for everybody, irrespective of what part of Ireland they are from. We are providing €100 per household for electricity bills, which will cost €200 million, yet we are crucifying young people who want to live at home, use public transport and go to college. I do not see the logic in not dealing with this. I commend two people who have campaigned on this for a long time, Councillors Joe Fox and Sharon Tolan. They regularly point out the stupidity of the fare structure in this country. In January, I would like a specific, focused debate on public transport charges in rural areas compared with urban areas.