Senator John McGahon - speech from 16 Jul 2020

Thank you very much, Cahirleach. Leader, today I'd like to raise the issue of tax saver tickets for public transport. Leader, every single day thousands of people from Dundalk and Drogheda and County Lowth travel down the M1 on Matthews coaches, on bus airing, or they come down on the railway line to Dublin Connolly or Dublin Piers. And they use tax saver tickets as a way to lessen the financial burden on their commuting, and they do this through getting tax relief back on it. And an annual ticket on the Matthews bus from Dundalk to Dublin will cost €2,744. An annual ticket on Eireann Road, Eireann, from Dundalk to Dublin Connolly or Dublin Piers will cost €3,620. And I used one of these tickets, Minister, for the last seven years when I worked here as a member of staff before they gave us parking out the back, so I know all about it. And the thing about it is, I was talking to a former colleague of mine on Lowth County Council, Councillor Martin Murnaghan, who also commuted to this house as a member of staff. And we've come up with a pretty simple solution for it. The ticket counts for five days a week. And in the light of COVID, I would now call and ask that we consider reducing the ticket from five days a week to three days a week. And the reason behind that is, in this COVID era that we now see, working from home is going to become, I suppose, a way of life almost. Of 126, yeah, working from home is going to become a way of life almost. And we have to reflect changes in that. So what I would suggest is that we ask the Minister for Transport to come into this house at some stage in the very near future leader, ask him to outline what his plans are for commuting in Ireland, and then to ask him what his plans are to reduce the tax saver ticket from five days a week to three days a week to really help commuters financially. Thank you.