I thank the Minister of State, who will be here for the next two Commencement matters.

I thank the Minister of State for being here. At the outset, I will say he has taken this Commencement matter from me before. He is not the Minister who I had hoped would be here this morning, unfortunately, although that is nothing against him. I am back with this Commencement matter for the third time. The responses I have received to date have been wholly inadequate. Each time, I raise this on behalf of real people who have issues trying to use a service to get to college. Each time, instead of getting straight answers, I receive vague replies about Midleton, Cobh and investments in parts of Cork that I do not have anything to do with and that do not matter to my constituents.

Today I had hoped to ask the Minister two specific questions. The first relates to the lack of a Monday morning train from Banteer to Cork. As I outlined previously, there is no early-morning train from Banteer to Cork on Mondays. There is a 5.32 a.m. train from Millstreet which does not stop in Banteer and arrives in Cork far too early. The next one is at 8.15 a.m. and it arrives at 9.15 a.m., which is too late. That is not acceptable when there are students who are trying to attend college and cannot live in the city due to the housing crisis. That means people are forced into cars, there are longer journeys and there is more expense. It completely undermines the claim that the Government is serious about climate change when it expects people in rural Ireland to drive cars to wherever they need to go. We talk endlessly in this House about encouraging public transport use. We cannot expect people to use a service that simply does not exist when they need it most. When will an early morning Monday train from Banteer to Cork be restored?

My second is on the Leap card from Millstreet. The Leap card is supposed to be the backbone of the public transport system of this country. It is supposed to ease travel, make it cheaper and more accessible but, once again, rural towns are left behind. In the reply to my last Commencement matter I was told the Leap card was not the responsibility of the Department of Transport. With respect to the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, that is simply not credible. Either he is the Minister for Transport or he is not and either integrated ticketing falls under his remit or it does not. Right now people in Millstreet are being told no one is responsible. When will the Leap card be extended to Millstreet rail services? I do not want to hear that there is a travel card. People know that. We know Leap cards exist.

It was the Minister of State who asked me how many people this affected. I did a survey in the constituency and received 79 responses. I can share the issues people raised. These are college students who use public transport. One student said they stay with a friend in Cork city on Sunday night just so they can get to college on Monday morning. That is ridiculous.

My two questions are simple. When will the Monday morning service from Banteer to Cork be restored? When will the Leap card be extended to Millstreet? If the Minister cannot do that, he should just say it cannot be done. I ask the Minister of State not to give me waffle and say it cannot be done and that he commit to coming back to give an update on when it will be done.

I thank Senator Ryan and call Senator Buttimer. Sorry, I call the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer.

Former Senator.

Former Senator, and he will always be welcome back.

I thank the Acting Chair. I apologise to the House for being late. I was in the Dáil and could not get over here fast enough. l thank Senator Ryan for raising this important matter. I would like to clarify for Senator Ryan that the Minister for Transport, on whose behalf I am taking this matter, has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. That is an important point to make. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority, NTA, as the Senator knows quite well.

I reassure the Senator that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. In our own county of Cork we have seen significant investment in the Cork area commuter rail programme. To support this objective, in budget 2026, the Department of Transport secured €940 million of funding for PSO and TFI Local Link services, providing a significant 43% uplift, an increase from €658.4 million in 2025. The allocation further supports subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland, including in Cork, as well as maintaining targeted fares initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of nine and the young adult card, as part of the NTA's national fares strategy.

Senator Ryan raised extending the Cork city Leap boundary to Millstreet station. The NTA has advised that it has no current plans to extend the boundary. However, I would like to remind Senators that there are currently two Leap card options available which offer 50% discounted travel for young people and students.

The young adult card is available to all young adults aged 19 to 25 and the student Leap card is available to full-time students aged 16 to 18 and those aged 26 and over. Qualification is based on students being in full-time education or training for at least 16 hours per week. Any student who meets the eligibility criteria, supported by a valid student ID, can have a student Leap card. The NTA encourages all customers to use the TFI Leap card to ensure they receive the best possible value on fares. Leap card users can save up to 30% compared to paying with cash, making it a more cost-effective option for regular travel.

In relation to train services, there are two trains, as Senator Ryan knows, which commence from Tralee on a Tuesday-to-Friday basis and which serve Banteer and Millstreet. The first operates at 5.45 a.m. and goes from Tralee to Cork, and the second train is the direct 7.05 a.m. Tralee-Heuston service from Monday to Saturday.

On Mondays, there is a specific and consistently strong demand for an early connection to Dublin. To meet this requirement, the first train is deployed to operate the 4.30 a.m. Tralee-Mallow service, which connects into the 5.40 a.m. Cork-Heuston train, facilitating an arrival into Dublin at 8.17 a.m. This ensures early morning Dublin-bound customers have a workable connection at the start of the working week.

larnród Éireann recognise this results in the absence of the 5.45 a.m. Tralee-Cork service for customers travelling on Monday, including those from Banteer and Millstreet, who benefit from the service from Tuesday to Friday. At present, the fleet is fully deployed across the network and there is no train set available to operate this service on Mondays without displacing the early Dublin connection. There are, however, alternative bus services available on a Monday morning, operating on the Expressway service and commencing at 6.15 a.m. I understand the NTA is in discussions with larnród Éireann on the scope or otherwise to introduce an early Monday morning Banteer to Cork rail service. The new DART+ fleet begins entering service from 2027, at which time we can review deployment of intercity and commuter trains which become available as a result. Their deployment will be subject to the approval of the NTA.

I assure the Senator I have been in discussion with the NTA and will meet its representatives again. I am from Cork and am very familiar with Banteer and Millstreet. Senator Lynch has also raised it with me and I know of the issue from talking to family members living in the area. I look forward to working with Senator Ryan and others to ensure the best outcome for commuters.

I am grateful that I got some answers today but disappointed it took three attempts to get here. The answer is that the Leap card is not being extended yet to Millstreet and the Minister of State is looking at potentially putting on an early-morning train, hopefully in the near future, and is meeting with the NTA. It is great the Minister of State is willing to work with me, Senator Lynch and everybody else. He will know at first hand how it impacts people across the rural constituency I am in. I thank the Minister of State for taking this and giving me the appropriate answers. I really appreciate it.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter. I apologise for it taking three attempts. She should not have to raise the matter three times to get the answer from the Department. As a Minister of State and formerly a Member of this House for 19 years, it is about representing constituencies and commuters in the Banteer-Mallow area. It is an important issue.

As Minister of State with responsibility for rural transport, I am aware of the pertinence of the Cork area commuter rail programme to people's lives. It is progressing well. I will not read out all the different things because the other areas are not important to her. What is important to her is that passengers and commuters get access to services. I will work with the NTA, Iarnród Éireann and the Senator. Iarnród Éireann expresses its thanks to passengers and local communities for their patience and support while it looks to deliver rail projects across Cork and, hopefully, build capacity and greater frequency. I will work with the Senator to ensure the outcome we both desire.