90 minute €2 fare must be secured in Budget for Dublin commuters – Boland

The upcoming Budget must make provision to ensure the highly successful 90 minute €2 adult fare is continued across all public transport options, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Grace Boland, who is a member of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, said the continuation of the fare which applies across bus, train, DART and Luas is a “no brainer” for the Coalition Government.

The Fine Gael TD said the National Transport Authority (NTA) sets out public transport fees each year but the Governments’ Budgets finances it.

“The Programme for Government, agreed earlier this year, commits to ‘keep fares low and affordable’.

“I am fully in agreement with this. The €2 adult fee which allows people to use all forms of public transport for up to 90 minutes in the Dublin commuter area has been a massive success.“It was implemented in the last Government which Fine Gael was a leading part of and must be continued

“The Transport for Ireland 90 minute fare in Zone 1 (the vast majority of the Dublin commuter area) is €2 for adults, €1 for young adults and students and .65 cents for a child.

“I will be asking the Transport Minister to ensure there is funding included in the Budget to allow the NTA continue to keep fares low for the travelling public, and crucially, to include towns such as Skerries and Balbriggan in the City Zone 1. They are currently included in Zone 2, which is wholly unfair to the many daily commuters travelling into town.

Under Budget 2025, the Department of Transport secured €658m for Public Service Obligation (PSO) and TFI Local Link services (an increase from €613m in 2024). This package includes funding for the continuation of the various fare initiatives and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025.

“We must now work to ensure this is continued until the end of 2026 in the upcoming Budget and ensure transport fares are kept low and affordable for the travelling public,” Deputy Boland said.

In 2024, the 90-minute fare was used 29.8 million times by bus passengers transferring from DART, Luas or another bus service within the preceding 90 minutes.