Sinn Féin spokesperson on Transport, Pa Daly TD, has stated that the government must deliver on essential transport infrastructure without increasing costs to commuters.

Commenting on a briefing note produced for the Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers, Teachta Daly said:

“The government must not punish commuters for failing to deliver on essential transport projects- some of which have been in the pipeline for decades.

“At a time when we are trying to encourage more people to use public transport, the last thing that the government should be doing is to make it more expensive.

“We are still in the midst of a raging cost of living crisis. Ordinary workers and families can barely afford to make ends meet. They must not be forced to bear the burden of decades of governmental failures in public transport.

“For example, Dublin’s public transport system has recently been ranked as the worst in Europe.

“Similarly, rural Ireland has all but been abandoned. In too many areas, public transport is non-existent.

“All over the country, the phenomenon of ‘ghost buses’ have become so common that they have almost become cliché.

“The reality is that the government was failing to deliver on transport far before these fair reductions were introduced.

“The Dublin Metro has been on the cards for decades and yet, to date, no progress has been made.

“This has nothing to do with reduced fares and everything to do with a government that lacks the plan, ambition and political will to deliver.

“Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry-led independents must not punish commuters for their failures.

“The fare reductions must be kept in place. And the government must urgently make progress on projects such as the MetroLink, Dart+, the Luas Finglas and BusConnects.

“This is not a zero-sum game. One set of priorities must not be sacrificed for another.”