John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What I want to discuss today may be more appropriate for a Commencement debate, but I will have to submit that request after the budget is finished. It concerns a tax scheme for shared mobility, based on what is used in France. How it works, essentially, is that employees are able to choose from a list of approved shared mobility schemes, whether it is cargo bikes, bikes, taxis, buses or GoCars. There is a whole range of options. The employer can then buy a credit voucher for the employee. It is a tax-free initiative, very similar to the bike to work scheme. It has been used in France, and has been so successful that the €500 allowance has been increased to €800. It essentially provides tax-free money to people to get out of their cars and get into that modal shift. It is about integrating modal models as well. For example, you could use it to get a bike and travel a certain amount of the way, then get into a taxi or a GoCar to take you on the rest of the journey. It is about encouraging people into that modal shift in a sense, by providing a one-off tax-free lump sum that a person can use throughout the whole year.

The reason it is important is that, first of all, it will certainly help us on the way to meeting our climate targets, and secondly, there genuinely is a public appetite for shared mobility. No one wants to be sitting in a car in 20-minute traffic or stuck on a motorway. People want public transport options and they want sustainable bikes or scooter options at the same time. We should follow France's lead and look at introducing this model. We have seen how it works very well. As I said, I think there is a clear appetite for it. If we can provide that, people will use it. It is about forward-thinking. I would like to see the scheme introduced within the next year.