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CHILDREN WILL HAVE free access to all public transport covered by the Leap card from Monday 3 July to Sunday 16 July.
The announcement was made today by Transport Minister Shane Ross and Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Authority.
Free travel will automatically apply to any holder of a Child Leap Card when the card is presented.
The promotion covers the vast majority of public transport journeys in the country:
Speaking today, Ross said: “This is a fantastic initiative from the National Transport Authority which I hope will encourage lots of families to avail of public transport this summer.”
Graham added: “Of course, this promotion doesn’t just apply to Dublin. The historic cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford are also included.
At a time when a lot of people still find themselves under financial pressure, we want to do everything we can to make it easier for families to get out and enjoy all there is on offer throughout the network of public transport services covered by Leap.
“One way we can do this is by making sure that the cost of transport for families is not prohibitive and our Kids Go Free promotion does precisely that.
“It also gives that extra bit of freedom to the teenagers who can now meet up with their friends in town without breaking the bank and, just as important, gets them into the habit of using public transport,” Graham said.
This offer is valid for Child Leap Card 4-15 and Child Leap Card 16-18, (which is valid up to the holder’s 19th birthday), as long as the card has at least one cent credit.
For more information, click here.
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Great to see the rest of the county are getting well looked after
@Ronan Duffy: I’m guessing you gave up reading about half way down?
@Ronan Duffy:
The rest of the country is not being looked after as you say. My 17 year old student daughter doesn’t have a leap card, we live in Cavan and she was not able to get a bus home today from Navan. I’m originally from Dublin and I cannot believe how poorly serviced this part of the country is. I really wish Shane Ross would get off his secure fence. He is from my Dublin constituency and I hope he is knocked off his fence in the next election.
@Linda: sorry Linda forgot the rest of Ireland consisted of cork, galway, limerick and Waterford. And no, I didn’t stop reading halfway down, I stopped reading when I seen leap card because it is pretty much irrelevant to the other county’s that don’t have the infrastructure or investment
@Kieran W: but sure we’re all boggers anyway what would we need transport or infrastructure for
I love my Leap card. My first one went through the washing machine and came out curved. They sent me another one practically overnight and transferred my balance. Intelligent service at no extra fee. And they were quick to nip it in the bud when local shops started charging extra to top up. I like not having to queue, I like it that the Luas scans it, and I like it that when you can’t get your usual bus, or take a coach out of Dublin, your Leap still works. Credit where it’s due.
I thought Ross had nothing to do with transport when the strikes were on. Then pictured in this… oh the irony
@Yorkie1892: That’s not what he said. This wasn’t like a teachers strike, the drivers had their own separate management and company to deal with their wages.
Contrary to popular belief ministers don’t literally dun their departments day to day a non-political team of civil servants who in theory have their jobs on merit and length of service do that. The ministers job is strategic decision making, the big picture stuff, not the day to day stuff. He siad he was going to intervene because he’d be asked to fix the problem with a cheque book and Expressway was basically insolvent due to the excessive driver wages compared to it’s competitors driving prices up. Trying to get industrial peace Bertie used to intervene in PS union disputes and it led them to expect a minister to come along with a chequebook if they threw a big enough fit.
Luckily he didn’t do that so now BE is trying out a proper recovery plan that might actually see it survive.
@Ryan Carroll: Contrary to your own belief Ryan, the minister of transport is a stake holder in the CIE group of companies. Thus making his intervention in the industrial dispute very relevant. Having spoken to some union people. It wasn’t a case of him opening a cheque book. But rather to address their concern for the future of B.E. so they could convince ‘all employees’ to accept the offer. This thankfully was achieved without the help of the minister…. But one wonders, if the problem had involved return flights to Rio. Would that have swayed his thinking to engage with them???
@Paul Linehan: Yes, a stakeholder, thus a strategic decision maker not a day to day management.
Yes his intervention might be relevant, in a bad way, throwing money at a problem with structure and organization and work ethos are the problem.
It was of course about the money, that’s what they wanted, money.
If it was return flights to rio he’d have had even less involvement.
@Ryan Carroll: If it was about the money…. How come the employees accepted a deal without a pay rise…. Because it was about securing the future of the company, and the staff needed a guarantee from stake holders that there wouldn’t be a same type scenario coming at them down the line. It wouldn’t have been too much to listen to the concerns and then maybe comment on them. Most times actions speak louder than words.
So only for some kids but not all kids.. seems fair
@Suzie Sunshine: Look, when companies ask me to go with paperless billing, they don’t offer any of us discounts on their savings. Is that fair? It is how it is.
@Suzie: It is for all kids you just go into Connoly station and ask the Customer Service desk for a free child leapcard
@Ryan Carroll: cheers I missed that bit ..
@Suzie Sunshine:
Aww you missed it again is it your age or dementia it’s very important you keep the brain active ♥️
The London model (oyster zip) could be adopted here country wide. This allows all children under 18 to free travel in their district. Along with the introduction of a decent school meal (breakfast/lunch clubs), it would reduce the rate of school absenteeism in some parts of the country. While third level students could avail of the entitlement up to the end of their chosen studies… It would also relieve traffic congestion during school terms and encourage children to use public transport.
Completely pointless , what will it achieve? I’d say something if it was for the summer
So many thousand children who would otherwise not bother will now obtain the card for the free journeys and after use will realise it cuts out the need for cash, can be topped up online and is cheaper…what better time than summer when teenagers are heading for beaches, shopping, visiting…it’s a no brainer…if you want to be a dinosaur so be it but don’t stop the young embracing the future which will include public transport!
@Trevor Connolly: you did day something
your already after saying something. it’s for a two week duration during this summer trev
@Lukey: Trevor must be a Stark :-)
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