Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 30 Apr 2025

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Ambulance Service

Deputy Joanna Byrne

The National Ambulance Service, NAS, is the State provider for pre-hospital emergency and intermediate care as part of the wider integrated health system. It is responsible for care from the point a 911 or emergency call is received, through treatment, transportation and handover of the patient to clinical teams at the receiving emergency department in hospital. As we speak this morning, serious challenges face the NAS and many paramedics are working out of substandard stations. Many stations have huge infrastructural issues, others are in a state of significant disrepair and there has been little visible investment in providing what should be a basic resource and home base for this crucial, life-saving service.

Drogheda ambulance station is one of the stations in a deplorable substandard state and it has been for a long time. The HSE commissioned a report in 2022 on foot of an inspection of the station and a subsequent inspection took place in 2024, which highlighted the dangerous conditions paramedics are working in. No report was published following the 2024 inspection despite the many complaints and concerns raised with the HSE by the paramedics. There was an additional inspection in February this year and I am not aware of any action being taken arising from that either.

The 2022 report clearly stated the station needs to be fully rewired and made a number of additional recommendations regarding subsidence issues, a green substance coming out of electrical outlets, mould present throughout the buildings and issues with vehicular access and the condition of the road in and out, which poses a risk not only to paramedics but also to the public due to impaired sight lines for access. To date, only patch jobs and essential cosmetic works have been carried out. Residents in nearby estates have noticed the off-run of wastewater from the cleaning of ambulances as there are no facilities to do this on site that allow for the safe disposal of wastewater. There are also restrictions on when the vehicles can be washed due to noise and there is no adequate housing for vehicles to protect them from freezing and ensure windows do not require demisting in cold weather conditions, which massively affects turnaround times, putting lives at risk.

Numerous concerns have been raised about the security of the current site, noting that it is wide open to the public. On many occasions, intruders have entered and An Garda Síochána has had to be called. A bigger concern is the use of controlled substances in the station and by crews. The station is wide open to the public and they cannot be secured at the current site. There is no security operational on the site. Multiple violent incidents have been reported to the HSE without any real response or resolution. It has long been established that the current premises are unsafe and unsanitary and it is wholly unacceptable that the works have not been undertaken to date. Paramedics have advised that their preference is for a new station, which is fit for purpose but to date no suitable site has been identified or proposed insofar as they are aware. They feel this building is so dilapidated that it should be condemned and cannot understand why the HSE continues to indemnify it despite it being so unsafe and unfit.

None of this will come as a surprise to the Minister. I have written to her on multiple occasions since the middle of February urging her to undertake an inspection of the station and the necessary works and to consult the NAS on the securing of a new station. To date, no response has been received. I also requested a debate on this matter under Topical Issue Matters 11 times in recent weeks, but was unsuccessful until this morning and despite the obvious and urgent need for investment in Drogheda and in this station, my call has fallen on deaf ears, which is symptomatic of the Government's attitude to front-line workers.

Local paramedics have told me that they have no space to rest during their breaks and no room or even small space to gather their thoughts and compose themselves after attending and dealing with harrowing scenarios. Demand for the services of the NAS is growing and in the Dublin north-east region, which includes Louth, there has been a 19% increase in calls in a two-year period. Fourteen personnel are based in this station, which is an increase on the 12 who were there in 2022 when the initial report was written. Taking into account the additional vehicles, there is no capacity to house all these personnel.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Noel Grealish)

On behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, I thank Deputy Byrne for raising these important issues.

The Government continues to prioritise increased investment in the National Ambulance Service with an allocation of €285 million in 2025. Investment this year includes €8 million for new service developments to deliver 180 additional posts. This will help to support capacity building in our front-line emergency services, further expand NAS alternative care pathways and help to further develop NAS specialist services. As the Deputy may be aware, the NAS operates from more than 110 locations throughout the country. It actively assesses and prioritises its locations for improvement works with the aim of ensuring safe working conditions for its staff.

I am informed that a Health and Safety Authority, HSA, audit was conducted at the NAS station in Drogheda in December 2021. The HSA report highlighted some shortcomings at the station and an improvement plan was put in place to address the report's recommendations. Improvement works were completed in early 2023 at a cost of €110,000 and included modifications to traffic management, station access, egress and storage. Subsequently, in late 2023, the roof of a structure at the rear of the station, which was used as a storage area, developed a leak. Some initial repairs were carried out to address the issue, but the leak persisted. In response, the roof was replaced in October 2023 and the interior of the building was cleaned and repainted. In 2024, the HSE estates unit began a separate assessment of the ambulance station to determine the cause and severity of a number of building cracks. This process is ongoing. Should the cracks prove to be structural in nature, the intention is that funding will be provided this year for remedial works.

Turning to the matter of rapid response vehicles, RRVs, following enquiries made with the HSE, I am informed that there has been no reduction in the number of rapid response vehicles at the Drogheda station. It is important to clarify that the rapid response vehicles highlighted by the Deputy are not patient carrying vehicles. RRVs enable NAS staff to respond quickly to incidents in support of an emergency ambulance during working hours. As the Deputy will be aware, the NAS is conducting a detailed independent review of its policies and procedures governing the use of these response vehicles out of hours. This follows an initial review that identified a potential benefit-in-kind, BIK, tax liability for NAS staff using official NAS rapid response vehicles to travel between their homes and work. I understand that the HSE has written to the Revenue Commissioners to seek a ruling on whether the use of response vehicles by NAS staff outside working hours can be considered exempt from BIK regulations and a reply is awaited from Revenue.

As a matter of prudence, I also understand that in February 2025 the NAS informed all staff members of their potential BIK tax liability if they used an NAS RRV to travel to and from work. I am informed that the NAS has engaged with the relevant trade unions and that interim measures have been put in place to allow out-of-working-hours responses to emergencies to continue in a manner consistent with the Revenue Commissioners' guidelines. It is important to emphasise that the HSE is obliged to comply with Revenue Commissioner regulations on the personal use of publicly owned vehicles. It is expected that, following a ruling from the Revenue Commissioners and consideration of the review report, the NAS will update its policy on the use of NAS response vehicles accordingly.

Deputy Joanna Byrne

Increased investment is very welcome and I acknowledge that aspect of the Minister of State's response. However, at the moment, none of it is being directed to where it is needed. This issue in the Drogheda ambulance station has been going on for more than four years, as the Minister of State referenced.

He also referenced that HSE officials were themselves shocked at the end of 2021 at the state of disrepair in the station. Paramedics based in this station are majorly concerned about decisions being taken at senior level in the National Ambulance Service, which impact crews' ability to effectively and safely carry out their work. It is not just the unfit and unsafe conditions. It is soul destroying and heavily impacting staff morale. These are people we rely on to go out and save lives. It could be my life or the Minister of State's life the next time around.

I asked a couple of questions I do not feel were addressed. I appreciate the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, is not the Minister and is only representing her today. However, I have asked the Minister to undertake an inspection of this station. I would appreciate if that were brought back to her. I ask that she keep an eye and that these works are carried out as soon as possible. I do not understand why we are waiting for a report initiated four years ago to decide whether remedial works are needed on a roof this year when it has been falling down for four years. There are also evident signs of major subsidence with cracks in the walls. I again ask that the Minister engage with the National Ambulance Service on a potential new site for this station. This was mooted a few years ago. There were a couple of false dawns, but to date there has been no concrete confirmation that a new site will be provided. We are flushing money down the toilet in my view.

I visited this depot. It is in a severe state of disrepair, and it is not fit for purpose to house the front-line services needed. Will the Minister of State take those three requests to the Minister? I spoke to her briefly last night. I understand she had a long day, but she said she would come back to me on it.

Deputy Noel Grealish

I thank the Deputy. In my opening statement I focused on the specific issues she raised concerning the National Ambulance Service station in Drogheda and the status of the rapid response vehicles at the station. I will now speak more generally about the National Ambulance Service's urgent and emergency ambulance performance and reiterate this Government's continued investment in this service. Demand for our urgent and emergency ambulance services rose significantly in 2024 with almost 430,000 calls received from the public. This represents a rise of almost 32,000 calls, or 8%, on 2023. Despite this increase the National Ambulance Service performance improved in 2024 in respect of both "purple" cardiac life-threatening, and "red" all other life-threatening calls when compared to 2023. The Government invested significantly in the National Ambulance Service in 2025 with an allocation of €285 million. Included in this investment is €8 million for new service developments, which will convert to a full-year cost of €16 million in 2026. As I said earlier, new ambulance service development funding in 2025 will deliver 180 additional posts in the National Ambulance Service for the front-line emergency capacity to improve access for patients to alternative care pathways, and to further develop essential specialised services such as the National Ambulance Service critical care retrieval services for critically ill patient transfers and the National Ambulance Service's aero-medical services.

The Deputy raised a couple of issues with regard to looking for a new site for the station. I will raise that with the Minister as well as the other issue of asking her to visit the site. I will convey to her that the Deputy raised it on the floor of the House this morning and would like if these issues could be addressed.

Derelict Sites

Deputy Brian Brennan

I raise the issue of dereliction in our cities, towns and villages. The blight of dereliction and long-term vacancy is prevalent throughout our country. According to the CSO figures for 2022, there are 163,000 derelict properties. I welcome the progress and the millions, if not billions, of euro invested nationwide clearly showing in the vacant property refurbishment grant statistics presented this week. However, I question the disparity in investment between local authorities and this needs to be addressed. I welcome the compulsory purchase orders activation programme from April 2023, which provides a planned, systematic and proactive approach by local authorities to bringing vacant and derelict properties into use when there is no successful engagement with the authorities. Again, I question whether all local authorities have been fully committed to following up on this. For example, despite there being not one but two separate Acts designed to mandate the registration of dereliction, a quick online search across multiple local authorities around the country show that these registers do not reflect the reality we see with our own eyes. If we are not recording this information, how on earth can we take the next step? How can we get these properties back into residential or commercial use? For those owners who do not co-operate with their local authorities, penalties must be increased. Let us take France as an example. A tax of 17% on the annual rental value is imposed on a property vacant for one year. This is increased to 34% in year two. We need to look at better incentives for living above the shop. There is huge untapped potential on our high streets and side streets across the country. Not only will this increase housing availability, but the knock-on effects of bringing these properties back to life will bring more footfall to our cities, towns and village centres.

Overall, dereliction can only be described as a scourge, as it is having a detrimental effect on the social fabric of our towns and villages. We need to take control of the dereliction crisis. We must ensure those vacant property owners simply use it or lose it. Dereliction should be a source of national embarrassment. We pride ourselves as a hotbed of tourism, yet we are welcoming our tourists into towns that are falling down around us. However, more importantly, we are in the middle of a housing crisis and fighting tooth and nail to build more houses while there are tens of thousands of properties standing vacant and derelict on every street corner. This is a missed opportunity and while we are in the middle of this housing crisis, we must act.

The programme for Government states, "We will continue to tackle vacancy and dereliction with enhanced compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers and an ambitious grant system." It lists several key measures to tackle this issue. We need to get moving and both empower and drive local authorities to act swiftly and decisively on this. We cannot afford to continue to take a soft approach. We need enforcement of vacant property fines and potentially increase them to give them more teeth. We can also do work to incentivise property owners to act. We need to look at the incentive packages that we have on offer and modify them to bring people with us to get these buildings back in use.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy John Cummins)

I thank the Deputy for raising this. It gives me the opportunity to address Members on this important issue. Addressing vacancy and making efficient use of existing housing stock is a key priority of mine and this Government. To address this, a number of structures have been established, including a dedicated vacant homes unit in my Department, a full-time vacant homes officer in each local authority, and the publication of a vacant homes action plan to draw together a number of vacancy-related measures across relevant Government Departments. In March this year, the Minister, Deputy Browne, published the 2025 progress report which shows the significant progress being made in tackling vacancy and it is available on my Department's website.

A key focus in the action plan relates to the interaction with the Government’s town centre first policy approach, which was launched by my Department and the then Department of Rural and Community Development in 2022. It provides a whole-of-government policy framework to address the decline in the health of towns and supports measures to revitalise them. To drive the delivery of town centre first, dedicated town regeneration officers have been established within local authorities, supported by the national town centre first office in the Local Government Management Agency.

In addition, where local authorities find that the acquisition of particular derelict properties is an appropriate mechanism to return them to use, they are now supported through the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, which has established a €150 million revolving fund for local authorities to acquire vacant and derelict properties, be they residential or commercial, using their compulsory purchase powers where necessary, and to carry out any associated works needed to make them more attractive for reuse or sale. On completion of the most recent review of this element of the URDF programme, a total of 1,297 residential and commercial properties were approved by my Department for inclusion on the approved programmes list for all 31 local authorities.

In my role as Minister of State with responsibility for local government, I am visiting local authorities across the country, and this is one of the areas in which I am engaged extensively with executive teams and chief executives.

As Deputy Brennan rightly pointed out in his opening remarks, it is true to say some local authorities are doing really well while others have a long way to go, and that is why I am engaging with them on it. Where I have seen exceptional work done is with small, dedicated and focused teams under one directorate within a local authority that is putting an enhanced focus on this area by using the carrot and stick approach - the carrot being the likes of the repair and lease scheme and the stick being the derelict sites register and the CPO. That has yielded positive results in areas where it has been deployed. We, of course, need that consistency of approach across all local authorities in the country and that is what I am focused on as Minister of State.

My Department also introduced planning and development regulations that provide an exemption from the need to obtain planning permission for the change of use of certain vacant commercial buildings to residential units, including former pubs and above the shop living, as the Deputy referenced. The most recent authority returns from 2023 show that local authorities have received notifications of 1,065 exempted development proposals to date, with plans for the provision of 2,716 new homes nationwide. I will talk about the vacant property refurbishment grant in my follow up remarks.

Deputy Brian Brennan

I thank the Minister of State and welcome his action plan, which is very much needed, and the further investment. I take the Minister of State's point about the involvement of the local authority, and how important that is. If we take Arklow, the town I am from and where I have spent all my working life of 25 years, it was a vibrant town, with a port and a buzzing main street. My wife, my two kids and I walked down that main street on the Saturday before Christmas and we were the only four people there on it. It was absolutely frightening. However, I do see green shoots in the town. I see the wastewater treatment plant opening up next week. I have to give credit to the existing owners of premises who are trying to keep the main street going. What we need is support. We have got engagement in the past couple of months from the local authority, shop owners and the chamber of commerce. It is key that we link all these people together and get them to drive the town on. There are huge green shoots for the town, but the problems in Arklow are being replicated across Ireland. The heart and soul of any town is the main street. If you do not have a main street, you have nothing. The key is to try to get that moving again in Arklow. That is our goal.

We have other cases like Arklow, including Shillelagh and Camolin. As I said, it is right across the board. We need to get our teeth into this. It is a real problem. It affects the social fabric of every town if it does not have a thriving main street. I have faith in what the Minister of State is going to do, but we need action and full engagement from all the parties. If the owners of these properties are not going to use them, we have to move them on, although let us try to engage with them. There is a serious health and safety risk also as some of the premises are literally falling down. I thank the Minister of State for his time.

Deputy John Cummins

I thank Deputy Brennan. I addressed the URDF, CPO and the derelict sites register in my opening remarks. The other strand is obviously the vacant property refurbishment grant, which has been a hugely successful scheme. Towards the end of Q1 of 2025, more than 12,400 applications have been received under the scheme, with more than 8,600 approvals and 2,000 grants paid out to date, giving the owners of properties up to €70,000 in support to bring a derelict property back into productive use.

I referenced the repair and lease scheme, which has been deployed to huge success in my county of Waterford. I have seen how vacant and derelict properties on the main streets the Deputy spoke about have been converted into productive residential units for people on the social housing waiting list. We also have the THRIVE scheme, through the town centre first scheme, which is utilising ERDF EU regional development programmes to rehabilitate publicly-owned, vacant and derelict heritage buildings. That scheme has allocated more than €117 million to transformative capital projects in buildings in Cork, Galway, Waterford, Gorey and Wexford, as well as other parts of the country.

What I can say is that I am placing an increased emphasis and focus on this. I want to see all local authorities coming up to the level of the best-performing local authorities. I have seen what works and am trying to influence that as much as possible because I agree with Deputy Brennan that at a time of such need and want in terms of housing, we have to be seen to be delivering in respect of vacancy and dereliction and the quickest way to do so is to focus on the houses and buildings that are already there and that is what we are determined to do.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Catherine Connolly)

Bogfaimid ar aghaidh go dtí an tríú saincheist agus an Teachta James O’Connor.

School Transport

Deputy James O'Connor

I appreciate the opportunity to raise this important matter regarding my constituency. It is about Kilcredan National School, which is located in the peripheral regions of Youghal and Midleton towns. It is a rural school but it is also a very large school. It came about because of the merger of three existing primary schools in that parish into one. Although it was a very good idea and the school is excellent, run by a brilliant team of people, they have come under huge pressure in recent years from the Department of Education’s transport policy on school bus transport, as a consequence of the village of Ladysbridge being a distance further from Kilcredan, which is the school of its parish, than Castlemartyr and Ballintotis national schools in the periphery. We have been having a Siege of Ennis-style situation where there is a dance every September and a panic, and we are having to bang down the doors of the Department of Education to try to deal with the situation. It is mercifully unfair on the parents and the children involved.

Ireland has changed completely in the past 40 years. Most households now are lucky to have somebody at home at all. Having an adequate bus transport system in place for kids in those areas is a really important part of the fabric of rural Ireland.

I am not happy, as a TD representing the people affected by this - those who have children attending Kilcredan, the children themselves and the school - who are all put in a very difficult position every year. What I am asking for, and I do not think it is an unfair ask, is in regard to locations that have gone through the process of amalgamation, where the school is of its parish boundaries and it is what the parents, the board of management and the local community and area want. That has never not been raised with with me as a TD representing them. They want to have it reflected by the Department of Education, that is, that it is the school of that community, of the Fr. O’Neill's, Ladysbridge and Ballymacoda catchment area and that Kilcredan is their school of which they are very proud. Some of the great hurlers, such as Ger Millerick and Declan Dalton, who played on the Cork team at the weekend come from Kilcredan. There is a very strong, proud sporting tradition in the school.

It is very discriminatory what the Department is doing with the distance boundaries. In rural Ireland, people are very precious about where they come from, and rightly so. It is a nice part of the country that we live in. What I am asking for is that the Department of Education have some bit of compassion for a school community, which is among three schools that have been merged into one, and have some recognition of that. As I said, each September we are back in the same position and are negotiating for weeks. It is a complete waste of time and, ultimately, all it requires is the stroke of a pen. That is what bothers me most about it. As a TD, I do not like having to go back to those parents, trying to scrape around for updates from the Department, putting everybody under pressure when it could all be done very easily if it were raised at this time of the year.

I would deeply appreciate it if the Minister of State could bring my points back to the Department. I am grateful to him for being here to listen to me this morning. I know that parents and children in that community would appreciate this matter being raised as a matter of urgency.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Deputy Michael Moynihan)

I welcome the opportunity to speak about Kilcredan National School. The school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year, more than 172,500 children are transported daily in almost 8,000 vehicles across 10,300 routes to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres.

The purpose of my Department's school transport scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. Under the current terms of the school transport scheme, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest national school. At post-primary level, they are eligible where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest post-primary school or education centre. Distance is determined by the Department-Bus Éireann and rules having regard to ethos and language.

Eligible children who complete the application process and pay or enter their medical card details on time will get a seat on a school bus service if a service is available. Children who are not eligible for school transport but who complete the application and pay or enter their medical card details on time will be considered for any spare seats available after eligible children have been accommodated. These spare seats are called concessionary seats, which are constantly discussed here every August, September and October when the schools reopen. There may be more demand than availability for concessionary seats. In such cases, Bus Éireann will use a selection process to allocate tickets for the spare seats.

The school transport system is over 55 years of age since it began with free education. The Deputy raised the issue of Kilcredan National School. A number of pilot projects were initiated over the past year or so. It is one of the pilot projects. We have to allow the full year to go through. The Department and Bus Éireann are evaluating all the pilot projects where they provide a valuable insight into the impact of increasing demand for the schemes and the potential for integrating public transport with the school transport system where it is possible, which is not always possible in rural areas. Rural areas do not have the public transport that is often sighted in urban areas or large towns. We are predominantly dependent on the school transport system. We are evaluating the 14 pilot projects, of which Kilcredan was one. I understand that the Deputy and others have raised this issue each year over the past number of years. When the pilot projects have been evaluated, we will try to find the best possible solution for students, parents and the entire community of Kilcredan National School.

Deputy James O'Connor

I welcome the Minister of State's statement. He understands rural Ireland and the issues I am raising because our constituencies are not that dissimilar. We share a county after all. I welcome the inclusion of Kilcredan in the pilot project by the Department of Education. I would appreciate if the Department would share that information with me so I can bring it back to the parents and the school and if the information was shared with the school. It is an easy issue to solve. There should be a recognition in the mapping the Department does each year with the bus provider - Bus Éireann - and the services it uses that this is a problem area because of what has happened there historically. People in Ladysbridge are very committed to the future of Kilcredan National School and want to see their children go to and support the school because it is the school of their community. I accept that there is a paradox there in terms of the distance. I am a realist. I have often discussed it with other groups across my area and said that we cannot have an à la carte solution to each problem but this one is particularly bad and more than worthy of attention. The principal of the school and his predecessor have been outstanding in terms of raising this matter with me. It puts a lot of pressure on the school board and school management. I can understand why parents are so frustrated. What happened last year and in previous years had a significant impact of people living in those houses. I thank the Minister of State for the information. I would appreciate him bringing my arguments back to the Department. I thank him most sincerely for his visit to Cork East, which was very successful. He was very sincere in his work in that regard.

Deputy Michael Moynihan

I look forward to more visits to east Cork over the next number of years. When a rural school closes, there is a void and almost a grieving process within the community in which the school is located. One guarantee that was given way back when the amalgamations took place was that there would be an adequate bus service to get students from that location to the central school. It was always indicated that at primary level, we would guarantee that a bus service would be available. Boundaries, catchment areas and different regulations have developed over the past 50 to 60 years regarding transporting children to school so we must make sure we are looking at the here and now. School communities are hugely important. They are hugely important for children going to school and for the identity of the area but we must make sure are doing the best with the resources that are available to us to make sure we accommodate every child insofar as it is possible.

I will endeavour to work with the Deputy on this issue. The Department and Bus Éireann are evaluating all the pilot projects around the country. When that is done, we will look at how best we can face the future in terms of providing a better service. We are unable to share that information until it has been pulled together and studied. When this has been done, we will share the information. I will keep in close contact with the Deputy over the next number of months. The closing date for payment is in June while the closing date for application was last week. We will be working throughout the summer to ensure we have the best possible service. We had a number of meetings with officials from the Department yesterday to outline the issues we have.

Rail Network

Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty

Maidin mhaith, a Aire Stáit. Is lá álainn é ag deireadh mhí Aibreáin. Ceapaim gur lá iontach é le dul ar thuras traenach. Is é sin an t-ábhar I am talking about today. It is a great day for a train journey but if one lives in the newer areas in my constituency, such as Adamstown, and if one is an IT professional who needs to go to the likes of Galway, one has to go all the way back into Heuston Station or wait a long time to get a connection to Portarlington. It really is not worth one's while so we need an intercity stop. There is always a question as to where an intercity route would stop in suburban areas. About 12,000 people live in Adamstown. It is a strategic development zone that has a larger population than Portarlington, which has a train station, and Kildare town.

If you were to start in Adamstown and try to get a train to the likes of Galway, for example, it would probably take between 40 minutes and one hour to get to Heuston Station or you would be doing a lot of waiting around trying to time a journey in the other direction. Adamstown definitely has a need for an intercity train station or, if not Adamstown, Kishoge, which is in the Clonburris strategic development zone. While Adamstown has 8,000 houses, Clonburris will have between 8,500 to 11,000. Adamstown’s projected population is 25,000. Clonburris could have anything up to 30,000. Adamstown is a lot more developed.

Some €4 million was wasted on the redevelopment of the Kishoge Station because it was not opened in 2009 when it could have been to cater for the existing population of Lucan. The wider Lucan population is almost 60,000. In that context, there is a huge catchment area for train use but such usage will only be encouraged if it is convenient. I know quite a few IT professionals – there is a diverse demographic in the Adamstown area - who car pool regularly every week in order to go to Galway to do their work. Some people drive rather than car pool, however. They are clogging up the roads when they could get the train. No one is going to spend 40 to 50 minutes on a bus going to Heuston station to then get the train back out again. There is a pressing need for these towns on the outskirts of Dublin, although they are in Dublin, to be treated in their own right as part of an intercity service.

I note that, coming from Galway, there is one stop-off in the morning at nearby Hazelhatch and Celbridge. That area has a much smaller population than the already growing Adamstown population of 12,000 people. I ask the Minister of State and his colleagues, in discussions with the NTA, to look at this, particularly as he has his hand on the lever, so to speak.

I will talk more about departmental funding after the Minister of State’s contribution. There is a pressing and worthwhile need to at least have morning and evening peak stop-offs at either Adamstown or Clonburris, although probably Adamstown in light of the existing population. Try it out, see how it works and see whether it increases the numbers using our intercity train services.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Seán Canney)

I am delighted that Deputy Gogarty is talking about coming to Galway. We want people to come to Galway.

At the outset, I wish to clarify that while the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien, has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither he, the Minister of State or our officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services rests with the NTA. The NTA works with the public transport operators which deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options. Public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. I agree with the Deputy with regard to giving a good experience to people and that if their experience is good, they will continue to use public transport. To support this objective, under budget 2025, a €652 million funding package was secured for the public service obligation, PSO, and Local Link services.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is backing up its commitment to improving public transport with significant infrastructure investments across the network. Under the National Development Plan 2021-2030, the introduction of additional public transport infrastructure will help to relieve congestion on the transport network while also providing for new rolling stock to provide greater capacity for Iarnród Éireann’s increasing passenger numbers into the future. This includes the Government’s commitment to funding for initiatives, such as the DART+ programme, the new DART+ fleet, the proposed replacement of the current Enterprise fleet and the introduction of 41 new intercity railcars.

Adamstown and Kishoge stations, located in west Dublin, are served by a number of Iarnród Éireann services on the lines to Heuston. Adamstown Station is served by the Dublin Heuston to Cork, Grand Canal Dock and Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise, Dublin Heuston to Newbridge and Grand Canal Dock to Hazelhatch services. Kishoge Station is served by the Dublin Heuston to Cork, Dublin Heuston to Waterford and the Grand Canal Dock and Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise services.

The line between Hazelhatch to Park West is a four-track section, which allows intercity trains to operate on an express non-stop service. The commuter trains on this line stop at all commuter stops, enabled by the four-track section, without the intercity and commuter services slowing down as well. Iarnród Éireann provides an interchange between commuter and intercity services for customers travelling to and from commuter stations such as Adamstown and Kishoge. This typically happens at the following stations: Kildare, for connections to and from Waterford; Portarlington, for connections to and from Galway and Westport; and Portlaoise, for connections to and from Cork, Kerry and Limerick. Such models of interchange are typical on rail systems internationally to facilitate the balance between demand for competitive intercity journey times and the provision of connections for a broad range of journeys. There are some occasions when intercity trains stop at additional stations such as Newbridge or Sallins where a commuter connection is otherwise unavailable. Stopping intercity services at Adamstown, Kishoge or other commuter stations would increase journey times by five minutes per stop on intercity services. Additionally, these increased stops would take up additional track capacity, reducing the overall number of trains which can operate.

I reassure the Deputy that the Department of Transport, the NTA and Iarnród Éireann are working to ensure the optimised deployment of resources across the public transport network match passenger demand. The points the Deputy makes need to be considered, however, and I will bring them back to the NTA.

Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a fhreagra. The reply mentions that there could be up to five minutes' delay. The whole selling point for Adamstown and Kishoge was that we have four tracks. Some of it was part of the strategic development zone scheme, as was the Phoenix Park tunnel interconnection. To put this in context, the people currently living in Adamstown and Lucan are badly served by the train service.

In the context of the suburban routes, I receive numerous complaints with regard to overcrowding, the lack of convenient times and the inability to get to the likes of Grand Canal Dock at the weekends. We have had an announcement from Iarnród Éireann that services along some routes, including those servicing Adamstown and Kishoge, will be curtailed up until October. While I have been told in meetings with the NTA that there will be additional carriages put on, those carriages will be taken from improvements to the northern line. They will be second-hand carriages. The roll-out of the DART+ South West could be in 2027 or 2028.

The overall train service is poor. Adamstown had a designation of no more than 1.25 car spaces per house. The whole idea of Adamstown is to encourage public transport and active travel. In this context, it makes absolute sense for Adamstown to be an intercity hub to go to other areas. It is worth trying at peak times. Put on one stop-off to Galway, mar shampla, or Cork and see how it works and see whether that increases the number of people using the train service overall. It only makes sense to increase the journey time if you are actually increasing the number of people using the service. I take that point. It needs to be pushed and tried out.

Deputy Seán Canney

The Deputy makes a strong case. I am listening. I assure him that the Minister for Transport recognises that transport connectivity is hugely important for people who live and work in Ireland and that expanding the public transport network and increasing service levels throughout the country will lead to more balanced regional development and greater connectivity. The Deputy spoke about Lucan and places like Adamstown. It is important that we provide a good service. Where the service is not good enough, we need to make it the best we can. We need to work on that.

Two initial orders for 185 electric and battery-electric carriages for the DART+ fleet were placed, with 95 carriages ordered in December 2021 and a further 90 ordered in December 2022. A total of 750 carriages will be ordered in the coming decade. That is a statement of intent.

Iarnród Éireann has begun to take delivery of the first order of new trains under the DART+ programme. Regarding the utilisation of the new DART+ fleet, 185 carriages are currently on order. The first order, of 95, will see 65 battery-electric carriages operating on the Drogheda commuter line. Charging facilities are being built at Drogheda. Thirty electric-only carriages will add to capacity on the existing DART network. The battery-electric carriages will begin to enter service in 2026 and will allow a cascade of commuter and intercity trains from the Drogheda line to other lines. The commuter trains would cascade to the Maynooth, M3 Parkway, Phoenix Park Tunnel and Heuston commuter services, allowing full-size trains on all services and replacing shorter and lower-capacity intercity trains operating on the route.

The 90 battery-operated carriages that comprise the second order will be built for the greater Dublin area, with route deployment to be determined. Upon the completion of each element of DART+, capacity for additional trains will be provided. Railway orders have been received for DART+ West and DART+ South West to Hazelhatch, and physical works are expected to commence in 2026.

Again, I thank the Deputy for raising this very important subject. I will relay his suggestions to the NTA.

Public Transport

Deputy Robert O'Donoghue

Good morning, Minister of State. It has always been the Labour Party's vision to invest in public transport, to continue to progressively reduce the cost of public transport and to focus on increasing the reliability of our train services. In general, it is great to see the fare reductions and the expansion of the commuter zones that have come in this week. This is a positive step forward in making transport accessible and affordable for everybody and helping to ease the cost of living and encourage more sustainable travel choices. However, can the Minister of State please explain the rationale behind grouping the Skerries and Balbriggan train stations in commuter zone 2 alongside towns in Kildare, Wicklow and Louth rather than in zone 1 with the other Dublin stations? The decision seems unfair to the residents of the two towns, who are still part of north County Dublin, but also counterproductive from a climate action point of view by making train travel more expensive in the outer areas, which are often under-utilised. This encourages car use, resulting in more cars on the M50, leading to an increase in air pollution and additional barriers to promoting active travel.

I read last night an e-mail from a constituent who has been using the train since 1983. Her fare for her journey from Skerries, which is now being moved into zone 2, has increased by 30%. Another constituent, a student who goes from the Rush-Lusk station to Balbriggan for school, has seen her fare rise, under the new fare structure, from 65 cent to €1.95 – a threefold increase in a week. This is similar to what obtains for students going the opposite way, crossing zone 2 to zone 1, from Skerries and Balbriggan into town. While it might not seem significant in isolation, over a school week or year it adds up and places unnecessary burdens on families who are already struggling with food costs and utility bills.

A father called me last night over his daughter, whose Leap card ran out of money. Her friends were able to sort her out but there was unnecessary stress and panic while they figured out a way to get back from Balbriggan to Rush-Lusk. The hikes are not compatible with the Government's commitments to affordability and encouraging people to use public transport, despite this being the goal.

I put up a petition yesterday – I am not one for petitions generally – to test the waters on this and ask for Skerries and Balbriggan to be moved back into zone 1. The route used to be in the short-hop zone. After 24 hours, there have been up to 1,100 responses, despite my not being known for my social media wizardry. Could we tease this out? Can we examine again the inclusion of Skerries and Balbriggan stations in zone 1, rather than zone 2, where they are now, and at fare structures for students who travel across zones 1 and 2 – say, from Rush-Lusk to Balbriggan – who are being charged three times the rate they were charged a week ago for a two-station station journey? Can serious consideration be given to restoring across zones 1 and 2 the student fares that applied last week?

Deputy Seán Canney

I thank the Deputy for his very precise request and for raising this topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien. The Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, neither he nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the NTA. The NTA works with the public transport operators that deliver the services and has responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.

That said, I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays key role of the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2025 the Department of Transport secured €658.442 million in public funding for public service obligations and TFI Local Link services. That is an increase from €613 million in 2024. This funding also supports continuation after a 20% fare reduction in PSO services, the young adult card for both PSO and commercial bus services and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding is also being secured to extend free child fares on PSO services to include those between ages five and eight and to support the roll-out of new enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland.

The NTA has strategy responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect to public transport services provided under the PSO contracts. In this context, in April 2023 the NTA published a new national fare strategy. The fare strategy follows the implementation of the simplified fare structure in Dublin. This strategy aims to create a more equitable, consistent and easy-to-understand fare system based on distance travelled. In January 2024, the NTA published fare determinations covering the Dublin city zone, which extends 25 km from the city centre to Rush, Ratoath, Blanchardstown and Bray, and the Dublin commuter zone, which extends 50 kilometres, from the city centre, to Drogheda, Kildare, Rathdrum, etc. Phase 1 was implemented in June 2024 and focused on fares for shorter journeys within Dublin. Phase 2, initially scheduled for September 2024, was delayed due to technical issues with the rail ticketing system. The second phase of the previously announced fare determinations was implemented on Monday, 28 April, introducing new multimodal fare caps in Dublin and revised commuter rail services, with revised commuter fares to come into effect in mid-May. The implementation saw the roll-out of the new Dublin city fare zone and three new Dublin commuter fare zones. Communications campaigns in the form of posters at train stations, etc., commenced on Monday, 24 April. I will refer to this further in my next contribution.

Deputy Robert O'Donoghue

I thank the Minister of State for his response. This is a good scheme but there are idiosyncrasies in it that need to be ironed out so the constituents of Dublin Fingal West will be encouraged to use public transport. I understand that distance travelled is one of the criteria in establishing zones, but it seems incredibly unfair that the fares of students travelling two stops from Rush-Lusk over the zone border to Balbriggan have increased threefold since last week. I would be quite happy to meet and work with the Minister, who knows the area quite well, to try to work towards a resolution on this. I thank the Minister of State for his time this morning.

Deputy Seán Canney

Let me bring some balance to this.

Single fares for some routes will be reduced significantly. Drogheda to Dublin Connolly will drop from €11.95 to €6, which is a 50% reduction. Conversely, some fares will increase, most notably in Greystones, Sallins and Naas, and Skerries, which fall outside the city zone. Within the Dublin city zone - the 25 km radius from the city centre - the fares determination will see a single monthly Leap fee of €96 and an annual fee of €960. This includes travel across all Dublin city bus, Luas and Irish Rail services within the Dublin city zone, representing a reduction of approximately 17%. The annual tickets on Dublin city bus and rail services will see a 9% fare reduction. The 90-minute fare level will be retained at €2. Fare caps will be revised, reducing the maximum daily, weekly and monthly expenditure for passengers in the Dublin city zone from €8 to €6 for adults.

The Department is liaising closely with the NTA and Irish Rail on the matter and will continue to monitor phase 2. I will bring to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Deputy's request for a meeting to deal with this. It is important to return to the initial issue: there is no increase overall in the level of charges across services. The Deputy has said there are some anomalies in the service, which we will continue to monitor.