Public Transport and Fare Increases: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Louise O'Reilly (SF), Dublin Fingal West

Of all the short-sighted, tone-deaf announcements that have been made by this Government, and there are many, this one is right up there. I genuinely did a double take when I read it. I thought that in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, surely not even a government as bad as this one is going to jack up the cost of public transport, yet that is apparently what it is proposing.
The Minister well knows that the people in my constituency who get the train in either Balbriggan or Skerries were left out of the Dublin commuter zone, meaning they have already had a fare increase. I spoke to a woman the other day who told me that the fare increase for her is close to €1,000 every year. That is an awful lot of extra money for one person to have to pay to then be told by the Minister that she has not had a fare increase in eight years. She has, and she really could do without another one. In fact, the Minister should be reversing the decision because we have towns in Meath and Kildare in the Dublin commuter zone, while towns in my constituency, Skerries and Balbriggan, have been taken out of it. Will the Minister make that make sense?
For no additional service, people are going to be asked to pay more money and that is not acceptable. The Minister knows the ongoing issues with the 101 and 103 bus services. Frequently, the bus does not arrive. I have a list of excuses as long as my arm but the Minister has already confirmed, and the NTA has as well, that this increase is not going to result in a better service for those people because it is not going to result in enhanced services. It is on a standstill basis. Equally, the people who get the 33 bus in the mornings are now very familiar with ghost buses. I spoke to a woman the other day in Lusk, who told me she is on a final written warning for work because she is consistently late. It is not her fault. She wants to use public transport. In fact, the Minister says that he wants people to use public transport but if someone lives in Balrothery, that involves standing on the side of the road while full buses pass them by every morning before they eventually get on a bus. For that service, the Minister is going to charge people 15% extra. It absolutely beggars belief.
The Minister knows, and the NTA has told him just in case he does not, that when fares are increased it decreases the number of people who use public transport. This is going to result in fewer people using public transport. As I said, will the Minister please make it make sense? He knows that the sensible thing to do is to reverse these hikes and put Skerries and Balbriggan into the Dublin commuter zone where they belong.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29