Micheál Martin defends public transport fare hikes

The Government is “not in a position to fund everything forever”, the Taoiseach said as he defended planned hikes to bus and rail fares.

On Thursday, the National Transport Authority (NTA) announced a range of fare increases from next year.

Adult fares will increase by an average of 15%, with a proposal to increase the 90-minute Leap card rate in Dublin from 2.00 euro to 2.30 euro.

The NTA said it was the first fare increase in eight years and was designed to support increased capacity and enhanced connectivity, while maintaining free travel for eligible passengers as well as other key discounts.

It said fares will remain approximately 8% lower than eight years ago, and increases will be below inflation.

The revised fares will apply across all public service obligation routes operated under the Transport for Ireland (TFI) network, including Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Irish Rail, Luas, Go-Ahead Ireland and TFI Local Link services.

The changes apply to cash fares, Leap Card fares and time-based products such as weekly and monthly passes.

Many child fares, particularly in regional cities and towns, will be reduced.

Free travel for children up to their ninth birthday and people aged 66 and over will be protected.

The 50% Young Adult and Student Discount will also continue, as well as the Free Travel Scheme for other eligible passengers.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the proposal was necessary to deal with demand for additional public transport services.

He said this required a “sustainable funding programme” and added: “There has already been a substantial increase in funding towards public transport over the last number of years – I think close to a billion now in subvention and in supports.

“So to expand that even further, we will require significantly more funding and this is one contributory aspect to it.”

Asked whether further expansion of services meant there would be additional fare hikes, Mr Martin said: “Historically, nothing ever stands still – we will always endeavour, obviously, to make things affordable.

“We have other measures in the Budget at our disposal that we can do to try and alleviate pressures on families – and there are pressures, no question, and that relates to tax, it relates to childcare, it relates to disability services and the cost of disability.

“So there are other ways we can help to reduce pressures on families – but we do need to expand public transport services.”

Pressed on the timing of the fare increases amid cost-of-living pressures for households, he said: “Government’s not in a position to fund everything forever.

“There has to be sustainable funding models across the board.

“That said, no government across Europe, I think, over the last four or five years, has done as much as the Irish Government in terms of trying to reduce the pressures on families arising from undoubted cost-of-living increases coming from a post-Covid inflationary spiral, the Ukraine war, the war in the Middle East.”

Challenged on Government commitments on climate change while keeping excise cuts on motor fuels and increasing public transport fares, Mr Martin said the conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war had created “real pressures on energy prices”.

“What we’ve been doing so far isn’t incentivising the use of transport; it’s trying to make things reasonably affordable for people – and we have significantly developed public transport.”

Mr Martin was speaking at the Child Poverty summit in Ballymun, Dublin, which came as part of the Government’s goal to reduce child poverty to 3% or less by the end of 2030.

The summit included a series of speeches as well as performances from a school choir and Music Generation, Ireland’s National Music Education Programme, which helps children and young people access vocal and instrumental tuition.