Official papers reveal budget deal to reverse 20% fare cuts by June this year

On October 8th last year, announcing a then-record €940 million Exchequer subvention for bus and rail services, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said future fare rises were not off the table. He pointed to the need for a “sustainable” funding model.

Newly released official documents show that five days earlier – October 3rd, 2025 – the Department of Public Expenditure (DPER) believed a deal had been reached that would see an effective 20 per cent price rise take effect from June 2026.

By spring of this year, however, DPER was worried the transport sector seemed to be moving away from this agreement.

The vast bulk of public transport services are not run on a commercial basis. Instead, they rely on State subsidies to keep going. Over recent years, there have also been a series of measures to make public transport more attractive and affordable.

[ Bus and rail fares to be reviewed annually, NTA chief tells MinisterOpens in new window ]

The last general fare rise was in December 2018. In 2022, then-minister Eamon Ryan reduced fares by 20 per cent. In recent years, free travel for children aged between five and eight was also introduced, and the Young Adult Leap card was extended to those up to 25. People over 70 with a free travel pass could nominate a companion to accompany them.

While revenue from fares fell, staffing and fuel costs increased, leaving the Exchequer with a larger bill at a time when the Government was coming under pressure to expand and enhance services. By Budget 2026, the Exchequer subvention was over €900 million and it will rise to €1.042 billion next year.

DPER officials maintained that the deal with O’Brien and his officials stipulated Ryan’s 20 per cent fare cut would be reversed by early summer. By April, however, they were concerned the timeline was slipping and the transport sector was talking about a 10 per cent increase.

On April 21st, DPER officials told the Department of Transport they had been assured, as part of the deal the previous October, that “an implementation date of 1 June 2026 would allow for the necessary preparations to be made”.

“There seems to have been a significant delay in communicating [this] to the National Transport Authority, which has left us in a situation, regardless of the ongoing geopolitical situation, whereby they would not have been ready to implement the increase on the agreed date.”

Two days later, the Department of Transport said it remained committed to the budget deal, but added “it must be acknowledged that the implementation of a fare’s adjustment in the context of the ongoing geopolitical situation has become much more challenging”.

On April 24th, DPER wrote to the secretary general in the Department of Transport, Ken Spratt. The correspondence stated it had been informally advised that it could be August before any increase was introduced and consideration was being given to a 10 per cent rise.

“On the basis of the information provided to us, a 10 per cent increase implemented in August would yield only c.€17 million in 2026, leaving a shortfall of approx €40 million against the budgeted position."

DPER said such an outcome would “be very difficult to accommodate”, particularly in light of a Government decision the previous week to moderate expenditure growth.