Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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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?

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Senator for her question. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important topic on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I would like to clarify that the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport but neither he nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The NTA has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under PSO contracts.

That said, the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of that goal. To support this objective, in budget 2025 the Department of Transport secured €658.5 million of funding for PSO and Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link services. That was an increase from €614 million in 2024. The package also includes funding for the continuation of the various public transport fare initiatives and funding to extend free child fares on PSO services to include those aged between five and eight years old. It also supports new and enhanced public transport services.

In its capacity as fare regulator, the NTA published a new national fares strategy on 27 April 2023. On 18 January 2024, it published the first of a series of fare determinations related to the strategy. This was aimed at simplifying fares and introducing a more equitable distance-based structure, which brings us to the point raised by the Senator.The first phase of the fares determination was subsequently introduced last June, and I understand the Department of Transport is engaging with the NTA on the implementation of phase 2, which will deliver more integrated and equitable fares in Dublin commuter areas up to 50 km from the city centre. This area was selected based on a review of future public transport network proposals, for example, the implementation of DART+ along with analysis of ticket sales information to determine travel demand. Later phases will include the introduction of free transfer flat fares in the regional cities and certain towns and distance-based fares for the rest of Ireland outside towns and cities.

The new commuter zone will include stations outside of the Dublin city zone, which the Senator mentioned, as far as Rathdrum, Kildare, Enfield, Drogheda and, of course, Newbridge, and will provide better value for passengers from these areas. The Dublin commuter zone is designed to ensure the cheapest fare is made available to passengers and will help to alleviate boundary issues between the national and city fare structures. For example, for a journey from Newbridge to O’Connell Street, passengers will benefit from the flat fare element within the city, facilitating longer distances of travel at a cheaper fare.

Unfortunately, the implementation of phase 2 has been delayed due to a number of technical challenges. I have been advised that Bus Éireann, Irish Rail and Luas are all working closely with their contractors to enable implementation of the phase 2 fare changes.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me a little bit of extra time. It is my first day. Next time, I will be better prepared. I have one or two more comments after the Senator’s follow-up.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State did not get to say it, but I saw when I read ahead that the key element is that it will happen by the end of April 2025. The answer to my question on the start is that it is not being delayed further. I am very glad to hear that. It is important.

I acknowledge that the NTA is responsible for the day-to-day operations, but it is not implementing Government policy. I have led delegations to the previous Minister for Transport, Jack Chambers, and to James Lawless. In that, I acknowledge Jennifer Caffrey and all the work she has done in raising these commuter issues. The NTA is also responsible for communications, which we are not getting in a timely manner. Having said that, it is set out in the response prepared by the Minister – I appreciate it is not the Minister of State’s Department – that the Department will be sticking to the end of April. That is good. However, I wish to make the point that last June, when phase 1 was implemented, which was to raise the fares in Dublin to enable the fares to be reduced elsewhere, the NTA was quick to raise the fares and it will be ten months then before phase 2 comes in. That is not good enough, but I am glad that, at least, we are sticking with April.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I did not intend it, but I allowed the Senator the opportunity to say the most important thing, which is that it will not go by April before these changes are made. The Minister for Transport fully acknowledges the frustrations of commuters who have been impacted by the delays in the roll-out of phase 2 of fare determination. When it is implemented, it will involve the introduction of new Dublin city and Dublin commuter zones, a significant reduction in Leap card multimodal caps and the introduction of Leap travel credit at all Dublin commuter zone rail stations. It will be a further positive step towards a more equitable approach towards public transport fares pricing and will reduce the disparities that currently exist for some passengers.

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to discuss this matter. If I left anything out, it is all here in the documentation.