Thank you, Deputy. I call Deputy Kelly.

NPHET is meeting today to consider what will happen with mandatory mask wearing. For many people this will be a welcome sign that we are leaving the pandemic behind us. However, many unions representing workers in transport and retail, particularly Mandate Trade Union and the National Bus and Rail Union, NBRU, have concerns. Ms Patricia King, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, has called for the rules to be kept for a short period. As the Minister knows, there will be a lot of anxiety for staff and people who are vulnerable. This will impact especially on those considering using trains, buses and other forms of public transport. Encouraging people back onto public transport is essential to meet our climate targets. Emissions were up 11% at the end of September compared with 2020. What advice does the Minister for Transport have for people concerned about mask rules on public transport being changed?

As part of the budget, €25 million was announced to cut fares in half for young people between 19 and 23 years old. The Labour Party called for the fares to be free but, in fairness, the Government met us half way. This will make a real difference for young people struggling with the cost of living and will encourage lifelong use of public transport. However, when will it be a reality? Was no work done in advance of the budget to get this in place or was it thrown in at the last minute? All we are being told is that it will be mid-2022. When exactly will it be put in place? Has the Minister given a deadline to have this delivered? My colleague, Deputy Nash, uncovered this week that there are no plans yet to provide this youth fare reduction on commercial buses. The Budget Statement said quite clearly that this would apply across the transport network. Many young people, especially in rural areas, will not have access to cheaper fares because they will not be available. No timeline could be provided by the Minister to Deputy Nash as regards when this will be in place.

With more people working remotely or part-time in the office after the pandemic, there is also still no flexi-taxsaver ticket in place to reflect the changed work practices. When will that be delivered? There is much talk about tackling the cost of living, but a concrete measure that would encourage more people to use public transport and reduce costs is delayed. The Minister made a lot of announcements and I have outlined many of them. However, we are getting very little about definitive dates for when the measures in respect of public transport will be implemented. Again, a 20% reduction in fares was announced last week as part of the cost-of-living package. However, we hear that it will not come into force until May. If the Government is serious about encouraging more people to use public transport, these proposals would be a priority.

What is the Minister's and the Government's position on mask wearing on public transport and in retail settings for workers who have concerns? When will the half-price youth travel card be ready?

Thank you, Deputy.

Will the Minister ensure that commercial transport operators are covered? When will the flexi-taxsaver ticket be introduced? When will the 20% fare reduction announced recently also be introduced?

As the Deputy said, NPHET is meeting today and it will issue a letter to the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I look forward to seeing its advice. My view, which I am happy to share, is that we should start immediately by removing the requirement for schoolchildren to wear masks in school. It was introduced for good public health reasons, but there are also good reasons for them not having to wear masks, for the health of children in a wider context. I hope that can be done straight away.

I have the same view with regard to retail and public transport. I believe we should go from a mandatory system towards a public health guidance to continue to wear masks. It makes good public health sense. I would advise anyone to continue with it for the immediate future because we still have Covid-19 at quite a scale. However, the time for mandatory conditions is part of the unwinding. I will listen and heed. Obviously, we will take NPHET's views into account, but my view is that we should further the loosening of the restrictions in place. I listen with respect to the teachers unions and the public transport and bus workers unions, but my view is that while I expect the vast majority of people will continue to wear masks for the immediate future, we should not continue it as a mandatory system.

We want people back on public transport. The numbers are back to about 60% of pre-Covid levels. It varies across the country. The long-distance commuting numbers are not back. It will be no surprise to hear that. Some of the regional cities' numbers are back. Some of the new services in Louth and Navan and some of the other services are up way beyond what the expectations were. The cost-of-living measure introduced last week of cutting public transport fares by 20% was not just for cost-of-living reasons, urgent as they are, it was also to try to give public transport a boost at this time, so we will not see the road space taken up by people going back to cars. We want to encourage people back onto public transport. It is safe and we want to get the numbers back up.

I had a meeting last week with the chief executive officers of Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Irish Rail and the National Transport Authority, NTA, to impress on them the need for us to be quick on this. The end of April is the timeline I was hoping would see both the introduction of the new 50% reduction in youth travel fares and the 20% reduction in the public service obligation, PSO, public transport measures. The CEOs say, and they are the experts in the area, that it typically takes six, eight or ten weeks to change all the ticketing machines and all the tariffs. I told them we have to do it and that I want them to do it by the end of April. They assured me they will do everything to deliver it in that timeframe.

It is more difficult with the commercial operators because we do not set, monitor or regulate their fares in the same way. That presents a significant difficulty in how we implement both the PSO and the youth travel card.

I asked the Minister a number of questions. He outlined what his view is before taking NPHET advice regarding mask wearing. I am saying out straight that many workers have a deep concern there, particularly in transport and retail.

I know there are problems with introducing new technology in the public transport system. I had to clean up a mess that lasted eight and a half years, under the last Government involving the Green Party and the previous Fianna Fáil Government, in respect of the Leap card and finally introduce it. There is always a lead time with changes in technology, and I understand that. However, the Minister has given us various different dates and commitments regarding the four schemes I mentioned.

As regards commercial services, I am one of the people who opposes this urban-rural divide. The Minister has to deliver as much for commercial services and for providers who are operating in rural areas as in urban areas. If he wants people to use public transport in rural areas, as he keeps saying, he will have to deliver for them on timelines as well.

Finally, the Minister did not give a commitment on when the flexi-taxsaver travel ticket will be delivered. Everybody needs to be able to use that as well, given their changing working conditions and times.

I ran out of time before I was able to answer that question. I agree with the Deputy that the transformation of public transport has to be for the whole country. We could introduce a new flexi-ticket within the urban Dublin area, for example, very quickly because we have the Leap card and the swipe-on, swipe-off on the Luas. The difficulty is that we do not have that with the longer distance commuting services. I have to listen to the reality that the officials meet, which is that they have a difficulty in adapting when they do not have that swipe-on, swipe-off facility in the rural train or bus stations. Similarly, I believe rural public transport will be key. The Connecting Ireland new rural public transport system will also be key. However, I have to be honest with the Deputy. We have to face the reality before us. We do not regulate those non-PSO services.

We do not monitor or manage those non-PSO services or have control as to how they manage cash or other ticket systems. This presents real difficulties which we are looking to resolve. It will not be done in the same timeframe or as quickly or as easily as we can on the PSO services where we do have these systems in place.