Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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202. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated investment needed in the transport sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by one percentage point; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21207/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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To help tackle our climate challenge, I am strongly committed to achieving substantial carbon abatement within the transport sector. Accounting for a little over one fifth of Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions, there can be no question, but that transport must feature strongly in contributing towards the national decarbonisation effort.

As the Deputy will be aware, the National Development Plan (NDP) underpins all State investments. The NDP is currently undergoing review, as such, the scale of investment in the transport sector is also being reassessed. Meanwhile, my Department recently launched the National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland for public consultation, seeking views on investment priorities and ensuring transport investment is aligned with the Government’s overarching objectives. In addition, through the development of the forthcoming Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2021, significant analytical and modelling work is underway to identify the cost of delivery of the various measures required to achieve a 51% reduction in national emissions by 2030, as has been committed to in the Programme for Government.

In advance of finalising CAP 2021 it is difficult to attribute meaningful costs to sectoral emission savings. Nevertheless, what is clear is there will be significant costs, and the extent of these and the question of where they fall, will be strongly determined by precise type of mitigation action taken, the scale of the action and the timing of its deployment. Analysis previously undertaken by my Department suggests that there are a variety of different ways of achieving an indicative 1% reduction in transport emissions, each with significantly different corresponding cost. For example, it was estimated that replacing c.57,000 older combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles could yield approximately a 1% emission savings at a cost to the State of c.€630m if there were continuation of current subsidy levels. A 100% increase in rail passenger kilometres or a 300% increase in bus passenger kilometres could also respectively mitigate 1% of transport emissions. Both of those potential measures would require significant capital investment in the region of €3-5 billion as well as additional annual current funding for operating costs. This analysis is indicative only and the corresponding costs are approximations, and it should be noted that the costs of potential measures would vary over time, often in line with changes in technological development and market forces.

My Department and its agencies are continuing to work with colleagues across Government in preparing the forthcoming CAP 2021, and I expect that the agreement of that Plan and of the direction of future measures will provide greater clarity on the expected costs associated with reducing transport emissions in line with the national climate objective.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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203. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated cost to the State of reducing fares on public transport by 10%, 25% and 50%, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21208/21]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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204. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated cost of abolishing public transport fares here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21209/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 203 and 204 together.

As Minister for Transport I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has the statutory responsibility for the regulation of fares in relation to public passenger transport services and also has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services by way of public transport services contracts in respect of services that are socially necessary but commercially unviable.  The funding of those services comprises both the fares paid by passengers and the subvention payments from the Exchequer.  The main purpose of the subvention payment is to meet the gap between income from fares and the cost of operating services.

The Government is spending considerable additional Exchequer funds on the public transport sector in order to support the continued operation of necessary services, despite the reduced demand and the restricted capacity owing to the Covid-19 situation.  Government support for all public transport services in 2020 amounted to over €620m.  By comparison, the level of PSO and Local Link funding provided in 2019 was in the region of €300m.

In addition, last summer the Government approved temporary funding support for the non-PSO (licensed, commercial) bus sector in respect of its continuation of necessary bus services, and the duration of this support was recently extended.  My primary focus is on maintaining the existing level of public transport services and I secured over €670m in PSO funding for 2021 to ensure that public transport continues to operate in a safe manner, albeit at a higher cost.

Any assessment of a proposed change to public transport fare structures would be a matter for the NTA to consider in the first instance.  I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct reply.  Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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205. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount invested in expanding the Dublin Bus fleet in each of the years 2018 to 2020; the amount that will be invested in 2021; the additional extra passenger capacity each investment delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21210/21]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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206. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount invested in expanding the Bus Éireann fleet in each of the years 2018 to 2020; the amount that will be invested in 2021; the additional extra passenger capacity each investment delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21211/21]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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207. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount invested in expanding the Iarnród Éireann fleet in each of the years 2018 to 2020; the amount that will be invested in 2021; the additional extra passenger capacity each investment delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21212/21]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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208. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount invested in expanding the Luas fleet in each of the years 2018 to 2020; the amount that will be invested in 2021; the additional extra passenger capacity each investment delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21213/21]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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209. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount invested in expanding the LocalLink bus fleet in each of the years 2018 to 2020; the amount that will be invested in 2021; the additional extra passenger capacity each investment delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21214/21]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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211. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount invested in park and ride facilities in each of the years 2018 to 2020; the amount that will be invested in 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21216/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 205, 206, 207, 208, 209 and 211 together.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.  The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the matters referred to in the Deputy's questions. 

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the question to the NTA for their consideration and direct reply.  Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.