Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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147. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is considering public transport fare reductions in his Department's estimates 2026 submission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34027/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under public service obligation (PSO) contracts.

The Department of Transport secured €658.442 million in Budget 2025 for funding for Public Service Obligation (PSO) and TFI Local Link services. This includes funding for the continuation of the 20% fare reduction on PSO services, the Young Adult Card on both PSO and commercial bus services, and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025.

Additional measures introduced this year are the extension of free travel for children aged 5 to 8 years old.

Furthermore, the NTA has recently introduced a new, distance-based, zonal fare structure in the Greater Dublin Area. This move aims to makes fares equitable, more consistent, and easier to understand, with significant reductions for many commuting from outer areas, aligning prices more closely with distance travelled.

Therefore, funding for public transport services is focussed on existing fare initiatives and service improvements such as BusConnects in the five cities, expanding town services in the larger towns, and rolling out Connecting Ireland in rural Ireland, in order to enhance factors such as frequency, accessibility and reliability in attracting and retaining users.

I can assure the Deputy that this Government is committed to delivering an accessible, reliable and affordable public transport system for all our citizens, including children. Under the Programme for Government, our commitments include the rollout of contactless payments, keeping fares affordable, and examining the further expansion of free public transport for children.

I am committed to making public transport as accessible and affordable as possible, while also ensuring that our system remains financially sustainable in the long term.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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148. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding his plans to ensure that all public transport is fully accessible to all; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33418/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.

From a policy perspective, I wish to advise the Deputy that the Department of An Taoiseach has established a unit within its Department which will focus on disability, reflecting a commitment in the Programme for Government to a step change in supports and services required by disabled people. In my role as Minister for Transport, I will be engaging with that unit with an emphasis on addressing the wider issues such as ensuring that all public transport operators provide safe and accessible access for all passengers.

As the Deputy will be aware, new public transport is accessible from the design stage. However, the real challenge is older infrastructure and facilities which may not be accessible, for example our Victorian era train stations. Since 2020, the Government has allocated increased levels of funding under the Public Transport Accessibility Retrofit programme going from from €7m in 2020 to €25m in 2025. As a result significant progress has been made towards improving accessibility on public transport. For example, the urban bus fleets are accessible as are most of the rural bus fleets and over 25% of the taxi fleet is now wheelchair accessible, up from 4% in 2014.

As Minister for Transport, I want to ensure that all public transport operators provide accessible and inclusive services for every passenger. I was pleased to attend the recent announcement by Irish Rail of the reduction in the period of advance notice to one hour at the 15 major train stations.

Under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for promoting the development of integrated, accessible public transport networks and infrastructure. The NTA works with the relevant public transport operators, who have responsibility for day to day operational issues, to progressively make public transport more accessible.

In light of the NTA's responsibilities for accessible public transport, including managing the Public Transport Accessibility Retrofit Programme, I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.