Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is very welcome to the Chamber. It is the first opportunity I have had to welcome her here. I wish her well in her role as Minister of State. I have no doubt she will do an excellent job.

The Commencement matter I am raising today is not new to this House. I have debated it ad nauseam within the Dáil and the Seanad. Like countless others, I believe public transport should be affordable, accessible, reliable and safe. In recent years, there has been a total discrepancy in the operation of fares in certain parts of Kildare, and indeed right around Louth, Meath and Wicklow. For example, if I came in on the train this morning from Newbridge, where I live, it would be €10.65 for a single ticket. If I drove to the next station - Sallins, which is within the short hop zone - it would be 57% less. That is simply not good enough. We have a situation where people are, understandably, getting into their cars and bypassing the stations in Newbridge and Kildare town. They are clogging up the roads and going to Sallins, where there are parking problems, to get the short hop zone ticket. I do not blame people for doing that. I know families that have a second car to drive students to Sallins because they currently cannot get accommodation in Dublin and it is far cheaper to commute from Newbridge. I will speak to the Minister of State about two press releases. The first relates to the fair fares strategy of the National Transport Authority, NTA, which was published in 2023. The strategy dealt with the NTA's national fares strategy for commuter and interurban journeys on public service obligation, PSO, buses and rail fares. It stated that the strategy was going to provide a "more consistent and equitable approach" for commuters, particularly those in the greater Dublin area. One of the key aspects of this press release was the statement that under the new structure, the cost per kilometre travelled would be "more consistent" across the country. It stated that a new outer Dublin commuter zone, extending to approximately 50 km from Dublin city centre, would be created to include towns such as Drogheda, Navan, Trim, Enfield, Clane, Prosperous, Newbridge, Kildare, Greystones and Wicklow. That is hugely important.

I also have a press release from 24 January 2024, a year after the publication of the strategy. This second press release stated that the Dublin commuter zone extending to approximately 50 km would be put in place in 2024 and would represent the rebalancing of affairs. The old fare for commuters travelling, for example, from Newbridge to Heuston Station in Dublin was €10.85, while the new fare was to become €6, a decrease of 45%. The fare for commuters travelling from Kildare town was to change by 38%. There was to be a decrease of 50% in fares from Drogheda and of 29% in fares from Ashbourne. The changes are important and these fares were to come into being in September. We heard in September that the changes were to be delayed until January. We heard in January that the changes were to be delayed until April. Someone who wanted to buy an annual ticket was told that the changes were not going to come in until June. People need to know. They need to balance their books and to budget. What is the timeline and what will be the implementation plan for the fair fares structure for those commuters in counties outside Dublin city?