Cllr Ciarán Cuffe has today slammed the announcement of fare increases by the National Transport Authority. Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe has now overseen a huge leap in costs for commuters, after failing to protect his Department's budget during the negotiations on Budget 2015. Minister Donohoe has also failed his own constituents of Dublin Central, as these fare increases will starve the city centre of commuter shoppers.Cllr Cuffe said: "This is Leo Varadkar's legacy in action. Under his leadership, investment in public transport was slashed and infrastructure was left to degrade. Public transport in Ireland becomes ever less appealing as fares increase with no discernible improvement in service."But it's Paschal Donohoe's responsibility now, and he lost big time at the budget negotiations. His failure to make a case for the benefit of transport funding means that his Department's budget fell by 2.6% in October. That cut is clearly having a direct impact on the pockets of commuters today."Minister Donohoe has also failed his constituency. As a TD for central Dublin Central, he knows full well that public transport is how shoppers get into the city. More and more people will now drive to out of town shopping centres, starving inner city businesses of trade."Today's announcement is the first tangible evidence of how people's pockets were picked by Budget 2015."ENDSChris GreenPress Officerpress@greenparty.ie+353 1 679 0012+353 86 661 0972Follow us @greenparty_ieENDS