Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2022
69. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Transport if there is scope to extend the half-price public transport for young people to include more age groups; the take-up of the half-price public transport for young people to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30453/22]
View answerI am asking about the initiatives that have reduced public transport fares, especially the initiative to extend half-price public transport for young people. That is effectively 70%, because it is 50% after a 20% general reduction. Is the Department giving consideration to extending that to other age groups, such as young adults who have just left college and are taking up their first jobs? What has been the take-up of the half-price public transport measure for young people?
The young adult card was launched on PSO services on 9 May, with more than 1,000 applications received by the NTA on the launch day alone. We are currently working on broadening the initiative to include commercial bus services, with the aim to have that in place before the return of third level colleges. This will mean that, nationwide, those aged between 19 and 23 will be able to avail of an average 50% discount in their public transport fares.
The initiative, as the Deputy will know, is aimed at supporting our young people to establish strong and sustainable mobility habits. Setting public transport fares at appropriate levels is key to achieving this objective. I am pleased to say that since April, when a further 20% reduction in PSO fares was introduced, all passengers under the age of 24 in possession of a Leap card now travel on PSO services at significantly reduced rates.
Under the TFI 90-minute fares scheme, a young adult aged between 19 and 23 pays just €1 to travel for up to 90 minutes on Dublin Bus, Luas and most DART, commuter rail and Go-Ahead Ireland services in Dublin, while a child pays just 65 cent for the same trip. Child fares are available to everyone under 16 and to those aged between 16 and 18 when paying with a personalised Leap card. For those paying with cash, the child fare is only applicable to under-16s. As such, I strongly recommend that those in the 16- to 18-year age bracket apply for their personalised Leap cards which can be done easily on leapcard.ie.
In response to the Deputy's question regarding the uptake of the young adult card, it is important to stress that the initiative has only been up and running for a matter of weeks. After a reasonable period of time, the NTA will carry out detailed research to determine its full impact. I will report that in May alone, the number of people who had a child Leap card, student Leap card or the new young adult Leap card increased by more than 16,000, which is extremely encouraging.
The Minister of State spoke about the scheme being extended to commercial bus services. When does she anticipate that will happen? This scheme is for those aged between 19 and 23. Many young people have left college and are starting or already working in their first jobs. There are various categories of young people. Will the Minister of State consider extending this scheme to include those in that group? We want to encourage more people to avail of public transport. When will the scheme come into place on commercial bus services? The Minister of State referred to that in her initial response.
I welcome the Minister of State's response. I understand the need to carry out further research when the scheme is bedded in. Two or three weeks ago, I raised the need to ensure certainty for the second half of the academic year in 2023. I encourage the Government to make a policy decision on ongoing fare reductions, as long as it is sustainable to do so, as I outlined in my prior remarks on the subject. To pick up on Deputy O'Donnell's point about private operators, there is a fantastic operator in my constituency, alongside our Local Link services and the Swords Express. Private operators are at a significant disadvantage when fares are reduced for public transport providers. Regardless of who owns the service, they are providing a public service. We should offer fare reductions across the board and include those private operators.
This is a welcome initiative. In the budget, the Government did much to focus on young people, including changes to the Student Universal Support Ireland grant for those going to college, free contraception for young women and this youth public transport card, which is offered at a substantially discounted rate. As we approach the next budget and budgetary discussions begin, should we look at extending this beyond the 19- to 23-year-old age cohort, as my colleague, Deputy O'Donnell, said? I would be interested to see if there is cause to extend this to renters who, as we all know, are struggling with the cost of living. Would the Government consider that as part of the budget for 2023?
I thank Deputies for their comments on this. It is clear that we need to look at ways to encourage more people to use public transport. That is an aim and objective of Government. We will look at the NTA's research on it. We can all see the positives anecdotally before even seeing that research. This will be broadened to include commercial operators as quickly as possible. The NTA is currently assessing the deployment options. A working group has been established to expedite the roll-out of this scheme to commercial bus operators.
Obviously, we cannot expect decisions to be made today, but will the Minister of State commit to speaking with her colleague, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about extending the age groups covered by the scheme? It could have significant value if it was extended to those aged up to 25. The Minister of State spoke about extending the general scheme, which includes the 20% PSO fare reduction, to commercial operations. Will she be extending that to commercial routes and operators in general? It is important to have consistency in these schemes.
I will raise the expansion of these services with the Minister. He is also looking at the matter. This all comes down to budgetary constraints. The youth travel card has been extended to commercial bus operators. There are currently no plans relating to the 20% PSO.
