Debate contribution: yLink Smart Cards
Debate contribution by Ms Liz Kimmins on .
- MLA
- Ms Liz Kimmins
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 13 October 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- yLink Smart Cards
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5789863
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Yes, absolutely. I will use the example of the fleadh over the summer, because it is critical to what we are talking about. The Executive came together to provide the offer of enhanced public transport for the fleadh, and people used it. Record numbers of people used public transport because it was available and reliable and got them where they want to go more easily. The old cliché is, "Build it, and they will come", and people will use public transport if it is made available to them. I do not want financial cost to be a barrier, particularly for our young people. We want to build in those habits from a young age. When I was younger, I did not necessarily jump on a train to Belfast from Newry. It was a novelty. Now, young people use the train every week, going up and down, whether to uni, for work or even to socialise, and vice versa. I want that to continue, but I also want to build on that, which is challenging with the budget that we have. When we hear the Prime Minister in Britain talk about cutting fares to £2, we want to do more of that, but we need a Budget that would enable us to do that in a sustainable way. That is exactly why the Executive are united in our negotiations with the Secretary of State, because the Westminster Government need to get real and to understand the impacts of their decisions on people here, who deserve much better.
256 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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