John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is great to see Senator O'Reilly in the Acting Leader's chair today. No doubt she will do an excellent job.

The issue I will raise again, which I have been talking about for a long time, is the concept of the three-day taxsaver flexi ticket for commuters. The National Transport Authority, NTA, wrote to me last Friday to say that after 18 months of telling me it was going to introduce it, and telling me as recently as 18 December that it would do so at the end of the first quarter of 2022, it is not going to introduce it because it is too complex and financially difficult. That is totally and utterly wrong. It shows where commuters lie in the NTA's priorities. We have had 18 months in which we have done colossal things in terms of introducing legislation overnight. A flexi ticket should be something that can be easily introduced regardless of whether there is a pandemic. To give one common example, I spoke to a friend of mine who was travelling twice on the train from Dundalk to Dublin this week. It cost him €64 for two return trips. It would be cheaper for him to put €50 in his tank and drive up and down the road. We know we need to get people out of private cars and onto public transport. Because the NTA is not willing to introduce this and said it will look at alternative options, it is actually cheaper and easier for someone to drive to Dublin and back. I want to be very clear. It is not the fault of the Minister either. Devolved responsibility has been provided to the NTA. It is something on which the NTA has been solely working. After I have spent 18 months trying to work it through the official channels with the NTA, which has failed to deliver and pulled the plug at the eleventh hour, I would appreciate if we could speak to the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and I will speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, to put some real ministerial pressure on the NTA. If it is not going to reduce it, what is the alternative? What is the next option? How soon is it going to introduce it? We need to get some affirmative action now. It is just not acceptable at this stage.