The Tánaiste recently echoed his predecessor as leader of Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar, in saying that this Government will provide a budget for people who get up early and go to work. Was the Tánaiste thinking that this includes the tens of thousands of workers who stand at 7 o'clock every morning at bus stops and in train stations across the country five days a week, who are now facing an average increase of 15% in their costs to get to work? Many of them are facing increases of up to 33%. These planned fare hikes are an attack on workers and people who get up early in the morning. This is a political decision. This is a direct result of this Government changing the 2:1 ratio of investment in public transport to roads-----

That is not true. It is still 2:1.

----- which was trumpeted at the start of this Administration. The NTA does not have the money to do things right because it is not getting it from the Government. The Government is throwing commuters under the bus. The Government was able to find almost €1.2 billion behind the back of the couch to subsidise diesel and fuel. Why can we not look after commuters in the same way?

Hear, hear.

That is simply not the case. I outlined in a response to a previous Deputy that we have seen costs reduce. We have a 20% cost discount in terms of a living discount. The young adult Leap card is a 50% discount and we have allowed children under nine to travel for free. We have tried to put in targeted measures over the years, while at the same time recognising that the cost of fuel is impacting our public transport sector in the same way it is impacting everybody else. We also want to ensure there is investment in our public transport, that more people can access it, that we are encouraging more people, whether it is through buses, trains or cycleways, and that we are able to provide that investment as well. There is significant investment, through the national development plan and the Department of Transport, but we have to get that balance right. It is about making sure we have those targeted measures for younger people and students and discounted measures for people who might need them most, while at the same time trying to get that balance right. I appreciate that nobody wants to see their fares going up, but in a review of some of the rail lines, what we have seen - even in my own constituency - is that fares have gone down. We will see fares go up and down depending on where they are and what type of investment is happening. It is always about getting the balance right and trying to make it as cheap as possible for people.