Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022
256. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Transport the estimated cost in 2023 of increasing the current 20% discount on public transport fares to 30%, 40%, and 50% in tabular form and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39428/22]
View answer257. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Transport the estimated cost of maintaining the current 20% discount on public transport fares at peak travel hours and increasing the discount to 30%, 40%, and 50% for off-peak travel in tabular form [39429/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 256 and 257 together.
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 20% fare reduction will be in place until the end of the year and €54m in Exchequer funding has been secured to allow for the introduction of these discounted fares, this is in addition to the REV22 allocations. I would like to see the 20% fare reduction continue into 2023; however, I am acutely aware of the competing pressures across the system and the finite Exchequer resources. The funding implications of all measures must be considered in the round so I will work closely with Minister McGrath and other Government colleagues in the context of the 2023 Estimates process to see what we can do with regard to supporting public transport services.
It should be noted that the 20% fare reduction comes on top of several other measures that we are progressing to encourage greater public transport patronage. For instance, the Young Adult Card, which provides an average 50% fare discount for those aged between 19 and 23 on both PSO and commercial services . As well as the TFI 90 Minute Fares scheme which means that adults now pay €2, young adults pay €1, and children pay just 65 cent to travel for up to 90 minutes on Dublin Bus, Luas and most DART, commuter rail and Go-Ahead Ireland services in Dublin.
While fare reductions are to be welcomed, investment in additional services is also critical. For this reason, I am committed to progressing core projects like BusConnects, Connecting Ireland and DART+ as well as improving existing services across the country.
The PSO programme represents a significant expenditure of taxpayers' money, and funding has increased in recent years to cater for additional services and growing capacity. Any assessment of a proposed change to public transport fare structures would be a matter for the NTA to consider in the first instance. Therefore, in light of the Authority's responsibility in this area I have forwarded the Deputy's specific questions in relation to the 20% discount fares, to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
