Public Transport and Fare Increases: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Danny Healy-Rae (IND), Kerry

I too am glad to get this opportunity. I thank Sinn Féin for raising this very important issue. Many people are very concerned about raising the cost of travel on public transport. We appreciate the public transport we have in Kerry very much because it is a very rural county and towns are dispersed and far away from each other. The Kenmare to Killarney route provides a great service. My idea is that maybe we do not need the larger buses all of the time. Maybe we could save by having a minibus or a 35-seat bus that could fulfil the needs of the people.
I am very concerned about young people and under-18s going to college, and indeed the over-18s, with the raising of the cost of travelling on buses. Many people - parents and students - are very concerned about this.
I also want to raise the issue of concessionary bus tickets. There is a problem in school transport that is manifesting a lot where people need their children to be taken on the bus, but if they are within the distance and only have a concessionary ticket they are not allowed to travel on the bus. In places like Killarney town itself, we need a lot more buses to bring people in from the outlying parts of the town. This is because the town is very busy, you cannot leave children walking and some parents do not have a second car so it is very hard for them to get their children to school, be it a mile away or whatever it is in the town's suburbs. We need more transport there. Then there is the route from Killarney to Killorglin. We need more space on those buses. Secondary school students travel from Killarney to Killorglin and have done so for years but we do not have enough capacity there at all times.
I am very concerned about the cost when we are trying to entice people onto public transport. Many people have no choice but to travel on public transport. I do not think now is an opportune time to raise the cost for people, with people under so much pressure.

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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