Public Transport and Fare Increases: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Charles Ward (RDR), Donegal

I thank Deputy Daly from Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on public transport and fare increases. Instead of working towards a goal and trying to increase bus services in rural areas, this Government is taking a step backwards. The decision to increase public transport fares by an average of 15% to 30% next year is a major step backwards. The people of Donegal simply cannot afford this type of daily increase for a service that is often very poor and is extremely unreliable, yet we are being expected to pay an even higher fare for an already poor service, with no intention of any upgrades to justify the extra expenditure.
Donegal is not served by any rail connections, yet the bus service, particularly the main ones - routes 30, 32 and 64 - are so poorly connected that they are completely inadequate for the communities they are meant to serve. Instead of investing further in these services, the Government continues to strip them away. The recent decision to take away the 30 Expressway is further proof of this downgrading of services. I have been contacted by many constituents regarding an extremely poor 64 service.
Here are three examples. The first one says:
I am personally fed up missing connections because the Express bus cannot arrive in time to meet the Local Link so I can get into college. Trying to get the Expressway 64 to keep a decent timeable in order to connect to the Local Link is impossible.
The next person said they were a wheelchair user in Letterkenny. They said they have been unable to use the 64 service for the past 18 months because wheelchair-accessible booking has not been available.
The third person said the 64 bus service is unreliable when it comes to stopping in Drumkeen and this leaves people stranded and unable to plan with confidence. There is no late evening service after 6.30 p.m. This is 5 miles outside Letterkenny. It effectively cuts people off in the evenings from activities, part-time work and socialising in the town unless they can be picked up by car.
The lack of consistency of frequent buses into and out of Letterkenny is a real problem and with the current situation of traffic chaos in Letterkenny, it is unsustainable for residents, workers, students and businesses alike. Journeys that should take 15 to 20 minutes are now taking an hour to an hour and a half. We need to think outside the box. We need to provide buses and bus services for every child in these areas so we can get cars off the road. We need to aim for what we are meant to be doing instead of causing more chaos with cars having to come and pick people up because the bus services are not there.
I also take this opportunity to urge the Government to introduce a national no-wait card for those who have chronic illness, as well as access to toilets. The issue is especially prevalent in Donegal because we do not have access to trains, which have toilets on them. We need all the help we can get in Donegal.

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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