Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. I believe the Minister of State will remain with us to take this matter. I appreciate this. Many Members of this House and of the Lower House, will be aware that public transport is a key issue for me in representing the needs, desires and wants of those I represent in south Kildare. This matter is in the context of Local Link, which is very important for accessibility and for commuters. It will not be a surprise to anyone that I am raising it again to reiterate my firm commitment to the extension of the short hop zone to places such as Newbridge and Kildare, even if it will be under another name.The short hop zone, in its current form, means that those commuters who live outside the 23 km zone - which basically stops at Sallins in Kildare - and opt to use public transport are completely discriminated against in terms of having a fair fare. With the costs involved, there are a lot of people bypassing an excellent station in Newbridge to go to Sallins, putting a lot more cars on the road, because the fares are much cheaper.

The replacement of the current short hop zone with a zone with a more equitable radius of 50 km was supported unanimously by the Members of this House in a motion that I put forward. Thankfully, I was also successful in getting the extension adopted as part of Fianna Fáil policy. Under the current regime, the cost of a return ticket from Newbridge to Dublin Heuston today is €16.90. That is just from station to station. The cost of travelling from Sallins, the next station on the line, is only €7.20. That is a huge 57% difference in price between stations that are just 12.3 km from one another by rail. It is an issue that I have brought to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, with whom I have been working on the matter. I have also been dealing with the CEO of the National Transport Authority, NTA, Ms Anne Graham, over the last few years.

Like many of us, I was delighted to attend the NTA Oireachtas briefing in Buswells Hotel on Thursday and to meet with Ms Graham and her senior team to discuss the new national fare strategy. I believe the strategy will go a long way towards levelling the playing field for commuters in areas such as Newbridge and Kildare town and will provide a better deal for commuters. I understand the fares will not be announced until June, so I stress again that we must use the period between now and then to keep saying that our fares need to affordable, accessible and transparent. This is key decision-making time.

As I understand it, there is going to a boarding fare and a fare related to the number of kilometres that one travels outside the Dublin city zone. The Dublin city zone will extend to approximately 23 km, which we could say is the present short hop zone. The outer Dublin commuter zone will extend from the edge of the city zone to approximately 50 km from Dublin city centre from O'Connell Street, which is exactly what I had advocated for. It is going to be really important for counties Kildare, Meath, Wicklow and Louth and towns such as Drogheda, Navan, Trim, Enfield, Clane, Prosperous, Newbridge, Kildare, Greystones and Wicklow, which are currently under a huge price disadvantage. From my dealings with councillors across the fringes of the current short hop zone, I know this price inequity is causing serious disquiet in the areas they represent. My immediate concern, of course, is for south Kildare. While I believe the strategy will bring greater equity for commuters, we must consider its impact on our commitments on climate change and supporting sustainable travel. What does the Minister of State believe the positive impact will be of the strategy? Can he provide clarity on the strategy and on fares? When will we have next generation ticketing, which is a very important in terms of the 90-minute zone and replacing the Leap zone?