Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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193. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to encourage increased use of the commuter rail services in County Kildare with a view to alleviating road traffic congestion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4885/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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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 this goal.

To support this objective, Government has provided increased levels of funding for public transport services in recent years. Under Budget 2024, a funding package of c. €613.463m has been secured for the provision of Public Service Obligation (PSO) and Local Link services. This package includes funding for the continuation of the 20% fare reduction on PSO services, the extension of the Young Adult Card on both PSO and commercial bus services to include 24-and-25-year-olds, and the continuation of the 90-minute fare until the end of 2024.

Further, the recently published Fares Determination will deliver more consistent and equitable fares for public transport users, and reduce the disparities which currently exist for some passengers, particularly in the outer commuter towns surrounding Dublin.

The Government is also backing up its commitment to improve the public transport network with significant infrastructure investments, including funding for initiatives such as the DART+ Programme, new DART+ Fleet, the proposed replacement of the current Enterprise fleet, and the introduction of an additional 41 InterCity Railcars, or “ICRs”. The planned roll-out of the 41 new intercity rail carriages later this year will help alleviate capacity issues on existing rail services.