Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Wall for his question. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important topic with Members of the House today on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I reassure the Senator that the Government is strongly committed to helping to combat the rising cost of living being experienced throughout the country. A cost-efficient public transport sector including affordable and accessible public transport services is vital to a functioning economy. In this context, a number of measures have been taken to ensure services remain affordable.

As the Senator noted in his contribution, earlier this year, the Government announced the introduction of an average fare reduction of 20% on all public service obligation, PSO, services until the end of 2022, with the Government allocating €54 million in Exchequer funding to support this initiative. The first phase of the fare reduction was rolled out to PSO services outside the greater Dublin area on 18 April before a nationwide roll-out on 9 May. These discounted fares are benefitting the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who use PSO public transport every day, including those based in County Kildare.

The fare reduction is funded until the end of this year but the funding allocation does not include an extension of the scheme to commercial operators. However, it has always been the Minister for Transport's intention to include these operators as part of a longer-term young adult card initiative announced as part of budget 2022. This initiative allows any person nationwide who is between 19 and 23 years old to avail of an entitlement to discounted travel costs and increases the level of discount over and above the current student discount to an average of 50% across all services including city, intercity and rural services. Mature students in full-time education are also included in the scheme as are eligible visitors to Ireland who fall within the young adult age cohort. This discount has initially been made available on all subsidised PSO bus, rail and Luas services but I am given to understand that it will then be broadened to include commercial operators with an expectation that this roll-out to the commercial sector will begin by the start of September.

It is clear that the young adult card will be of great benefit to this cohort of users and will not only promote modal shift in the transport sector, but should also contribute towards a reduced reliance on private transport with associated benefits. I have been advised that it is technically more challenging to roll out the young adult card on the commercial bus network than it is on the Leap card-enabled PSO network. However, the NTA is in detailed discussions with transport operators and the Department of Transport regarding the range of issues that need to be addressed.

The Minister for Transport has openly welcomed the deployment of both fare initiatives for 2022. The funding implications of the continuation of such initiatives into 2023 must be considered in the round along with all other funding asks. I am assured that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, intends to work closely with the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and other Government colleagues in the context of the 2023 Estimates process to see what can be done about supporting public transport services and the travelling public.