Increases in public transport fares have been described as “absolutely unacceptable” by commuter groups.
Adult fares will increase by an average of 15% from January, the National Transport Authority announced.
The groups accused the Government of asking bus, rail and tram users to “in effect” cover the “astounding cost” of an extension in cuts to Excise Duty on petrol and diesel.
In a joint statement, the Galway, Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Drogheda commuter coalitions said that move “amounts to a cost of over €2 million a day”.
“Costs to run our public transport services are rising,” they said.
“With vastly increasing congestion, our bus networks require more vehicles and drivers than ever before to maintain the same service.
“The schemes meant to alleviate this congestion and prioritise buses have been put on pause across the country as the promised funding has failed to materialise.
“This funding has been allocated to the construction of more roads.
“Funding for the electrification of our railways, ensuring that they can continue to move our people during oil shocks without change has also been allocated to the construction of more roads.
In a message to commuters, the statement said: “As you cram onto a crowded train or get passed by a full bus in the rain this winter, remember that the government is glad to raise your fares and to use the money they promised you for service improvements on the petrol that you don’t burn”.
The groups added that the war in Iran has highlighted the importance for Ireland to be less dependent on oil, but the Government is doing the “exact opposite”.
Why are public transport prices increasing?
Peter O’Neill from the Galway Commuter Coalition said the group is in “utter disbelief” over today’s announcement that public transport fares will be increased.
“The previous December when we were looking at the 424 route here in Galway, we were told that there was no shortage of resources for public transportation in Ireland,” Mr O’Neill told RTÉ’s Six One.
“Unfortunately, now it looks as if recent developments, particularly with how the government has spent in terms of fuel subsidies … it has left public transport commuters short shift in this situation,” he said.
“We have seen a 21% increase in public transport use for six years between 2020 and 2026 … this could just push people over the edge to go back into their cars, especially in a city like Galway,” he said.
Regarding fuel subsidies which were introduced in April, Mr O’Neill said the Government has created a two-tier system for commuters.
“Commuters that use cars are being rewarded with subsidies and commuters that have to use public transportation, which would hopefully be more fuel efficient, with less traffic and less carbon emissions, have been punished in this way,” he said.
Sinn Féin’s transport spokesperson Pa Daly said the fare increases show the Government is not “reading the room” when it comes to climate, congestion and the cost of living.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Mr Daly said it is “disappointing” to hear about fare hikes while new services stall.
“If you look at Bus Connects, funding fell sharply in the last two years… Connecting Ireland, their rural mobility plan, there was 65 new services in 2024 and 2025 and only four were proposed for this year.
“So all across the board services have been grinding to a halt in 2026 and the Government didn’t seem to have any vision in planning and investing in the new services,” he said.
Mr Daly said measures need to be “targeted at the right people rather than on public transport” in order to keep people off the roads and meet climate targets.
He said the Government is “starving the NTA of the funding to increase new services”, adding there needs to be more funding and more investing and more priority given to expanding services.
“There has been a lot of government waste … but why not, in the context of climate and the cost of living, be ambitious and invest more, which is what should have been done because we were starved and didn’t have the new services that were proposed,” he said.
Fare hikes labelled ‘outrageous’ and ‘retrograde’ by opposition parties
The Social Democrats said that at a time when the Government should be doing all it could to incentivise public transport use, the fare increases will do the exact opposite.
TD Aidan Farrelly said: “The NTA’s decision to hike fares by an average of 15% is a retrograde step that will further discourage commuters from using public transport.
“With people struggling with an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis that shows no sign of easing, this is a very shortsighted move by the NTA and a slap in the face for passengers.”
Labour Party spokesperson on transport Ciarán Ahern said the increases are well above the rate of inflation and called on the Government to stop them.
“Last week Government spent a further €400 million on excise cuts for drivers – yet it won’t act to stop fare increases on commuters.
“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are doubling down on fossil fuels when they should be encouraging people to use public transport.
“It’s anti-worker and it proves this Government’s failure to take any leadership on climate.”
People Before Profit described the fare hikes as “outrageous”.
Govt happy to maintain car-dependent country – Ryan
Former Green Party Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has said today’s transport fare increases are a political choice, which signal a Government decision to get rid of “all of that green nonsense and getting back to the consumer paying”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, he said the increases are a reversal of the measures introduced in 2022 when he was in government.
“We cut fares by 20% and we halved them for younger people and this is a reversal,” he said.
“This is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform taking back control, getting rid of all of that green nonsense and getting back to the consumer paying.”
Mr Ryan said Ireland continues to struggle with traffic delays and congestion because “we have a government and a public administrative system that is happy to maintain a car dependent country and does not invest in public transport sufficiently.”
“The reality is we are now going to build a metro in Dublin and we’re going to build more roads and motorways in Galway, Cork, Limerick and elsewhere,” he said.
“That’s not going to work, it’s not going to solve our traffic problems. It’s not going to give us a good quality of life.”
Mr Ryan described the fare increases as a balancing exercise for the Department of Public Expenditure.
“You have the current cost, you’ve got to pay the wages, the maintenance and then you have to pay for the new bus lanes and new infrastructure.
“There’s no money for the infrastructure … If they were serious about expanding public transport services, a lot of which are ready to go, then there will be a capital budget to meet it. There isn’t,” he said.
Regarding the Bus Connects project in Dublin, Mr Ryan said when the new routes were planned, there was an agreement that they would be built four at a time. He said the current Government is building them two at a time.
“It will take us another 10, 15 years to deliver a bus service that was started 20 years ago,” he said.
“It’s the same in Cork, and it’s the same in Galway. There was a bus corridor planned for Galway, nothing happening. Bus Connects planned for Cork, again, nothing happening.”
Mr Ryan said that when The Green Party went into government they tried to develop projects two to one favour public transport.
“We got huge opposition because we were saying we’re not going to build roads as much as we used to … That is what has changed. It’s a political choice against public transport in favour of a car dominated system that does never work because it only gets caught in gridlock,” he said.
It’s bad for our emissions, it’s bad for good quality of life so that you can get from A to B without being stuck in traffic the whole time,” he said.
