Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator McGahon for his question. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important topic. I am answering on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, so I will be relaying the Senator's comments to him.

I understand that the Senator's question is on the inclusion of the commercial bus sector in the young adult card initiative. It has always been the intention of the Minister to include commercial bus operators in this exciting fares initiative. I want to be very clear that licensed bus and coach operators are an integral part of the overall public transport system, particularly in areas around the country that are not covered by existing public service bus and rail services.

In recognition of the important role that these operators play, the Government has continued to provide temporary financial supports throughout the Covid-19 pandemic for certain licensed commercial services with a view to protecting capacity across the public transport sector throughout the crisis.

In acknowledgement of the continuing difficulties facing the sector, I am pleased to inform the Senator that the Minister recently approved an extension of the supports up to 30 June 2022. To date, during this challenging time, over €60 million has been provided to support the commercial bus operators.

On the Senator's specific question regarding the young adult card — which recognises the importance of incentivising more young people to use public transport — the Minister was delighted to secure €25 million in funding for the scheme's introduction as part of budget 2022. The exciting initiative will entitle anyone between the ages of 19 and 23 to discounted travel costs and to increase the level of discount over and above the current student discount level to an average of 50% across all services, including city, intercity and rural services.

Mature students in full-time education will also be included in the scheme, as will eligible visitors to Ireland within the young adult age cohort. The discount will initially be made available on all subsidised public service obligation, PSO, bus, rail and Luas services. I expect to launch the young adult card on PSO services next month. It will be broadened to include commercial operators at a later date, with an expectation to launch before the end of the year. It is clear that the young adult card will be of great benefit to the cohort of users in question. Not only will it promote a modal shift in the transport sector but it should also contribute towards reduced reliance on private transport, with the associated benefit of transport-emissions savings.

The National Transport Authority has commenced work on the implementation of the new fares structure for young adults and its deployment. It is technically more challenging to roll out the young adult card on the commercial bus network than on the Leap-enabled PSO network. As such, it will take longer to make the fare discount available to commercial bus operators.

The NTA is in detailed discussions with transport operators and my Department regarding the range of issues that need to be addressed. To assist with this process, the NTA has established a working group to consider options and develop a plan to implement the young adult card on commercial buses in as timely a manner as possible, taking account of current ticketing capabilities to ensure a viable scheme is implemented.

The working group includes three representatives from the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland, two further representatives from the commercial sector and a representative from the Department of Transport. The industry experience of the working group will likely expedite the process of deploying the young adult card to the wider commercial bus sector. I will relay the Senator's comments to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan.