Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his policy in relation to the pricing of publicly funded transport services within the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25017/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport, nor decisions on fares.

The Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 provides a statutory power to the NTA to establish fares in relation to public passenger transport services. Following the establishment of the National Transport Authority (NTA) in December 2009, the NTA has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services, provided under public service contracts.

Over a number of years, the NTA's approach has been to gradually simplify the fare structures across bus, rail and light rail services and to move more towards a fairer, distance-based structure. For 2020, the NTA set fares by way of two determinations: the first determination made adjustments for all monthly and annual tickets (including tax saver tickets) with an implementation date of 1st December 2019, and the second fares determination addressed adjustments for all other fares with changes effective from April 2020. These fares determinations made further progress towards the fares-policy objectives.