Public Transport and Fare Increases: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Brian Stanley (IND), Laois

The 15% average increase that has been proposed is over the top and defies logic. It is a retrograde step. We are supposed to be getting people onto public transport to reduce our carbon emissions and reduce congestion but this is putting our transport system in reverse. Inflation is only running at a fraction of that. This could not come at a worse time when there is cost-of-living crisis due to the sky-high cost of rents, mortgages, home heating, electricity and groceries. The Government will discourage many people from using buses and trains and push them back into cars, which will have a negative effect. The National Transport Authority has conceded that and I am hearing it from commuters in the Portlaoise and Portarlington areas. All our efforts should be going towards getting as many people as possible onto public transport and reducing traffic congestion and pollution. It is worth noting that just weeks after the exposure of the €50 million written off by Iarnród Éireann for a failed traffic management system, we now get a proposal to increase charges by 15%. We need a better use of the existing subsidy from the taxpayer and that is an issue. I have no problem with the subvention. We can increase it further. We need to improve capacity on our packed trains, on the Luas trams, where people are like sardines, and on buses.
Facilities at railway stations are very poor. In Portlaoise, for example, there are two tiny shelters and hundreds of people stand out in the rain getting soaked. They could be on their way to college or work in Dublin, Limerick or wherever. The situation is the same in Portarlington and Ballybrophy. That needs to be addressed. We need basic weather shelters at railway stations and proper toilet facilities.
Packed trains and carriages need to be taken into account and dealt with. We need extra carriages. Iarnród Éireann told me all its rolling stock is in full use and that is good, but new carriages are promised and that needs to happen. I am appealing to the Minister to halt this 15% increase in public transport fees, to put on more services and in the case of Laois to put on an 11 p.m. train from Heuston. The service currently finishes at 10 p.m. It is a good service but there needs to be an 11 p.m. service as well for people attending events in Dublin. We desperately need to improve facilities at railway stations like those at Ballybrophy, Portlaoise and Portarlington, as I have outlined. We need a survey of carriage, bus and tram capacity and to put on extra capacity where required. All of this is needed along with good use of the subsidy given by the taxpayer. We need to expand the local town and bus service as well. We have a good one in Portlaoise and Carlow but that needs to be exteded. I appeal to the Minister of State to see that this happens.

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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