Seanad debates

Wednesday, 22 June 2022

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

10:00 am

Photo of Maria ByrneMaria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was at the briefing we had this morning where we met representatives of the Coach Tourism and Transport Council, CTTC. This issue has been raised already. The 20% discount in fares has created inequality. Senator Cummins mentioned the Expressway buses. The private transport operators now find themselves in competition with public transport in some areas. They are losing customers because of the cheaper fares available on public transport. While competition is always healthy, it is not the coach tour operators that would benefit from cheaper fares but the people using the services. The 20% fare discount should apply across the board for all transport users, whether they are using public transport operated by Bus Éireann or the services of private coach operators.

Many places in rural Ireland have services operated by the private coach owners. It is not fair that people elsewhere should be able to avail of the 20% fare reduction. In this House, we have been asking for the 20% fare reduction to be extended beyond the end of this year because it is encouraging people to use shared transport. It also feeds into the Government’s climate agenda in respect of people using transport and sharing services in this regard. This should be done and I would like the support of the Leader in this regard. I support the call made by Senator Cummins for a debate on the 20% fare reduction and public transport in general.

I also welcome that Shannon and Knock airports were acknowledged by the World Health Organization, WHO, last week, at a ceremony attended by the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, as being age-friendly airports. I congratulate both airports on this achievement but especially Shannon Airport, which is in the mid-west region. It is a very safe airport for older people to access. There is great ease of access when entering and exiting the different terminals.

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