Green Party MEP for Dublin Ciarán Cuffe has suggested offering free public transport, to encourage people to leave their car at home, may not the best way to spend money.
He was speaking as today marks International Car Free Day.
Amid suggestions to offer free public transport as an incentive - like Luxembourg - Mr Cuffe says this mightn't be the best approach.
"Whenever this comes up it's a kind of a hoary old chestnut - I often ask if we had that amount of money to give free public transport, would that be the best use of the money?
"And maybe we should really use the money to improve walking and cycling, or provide lower fares all the year round, or buy more buses or trains.
"Free public transport: lots of people jump at the idea, but I actually think what we need to do is make public transport more accessible to all and improve the frequency and reliability".
But he says Dublin could learn from elsewhere in the EU.
"I think we could certainly look to Brussels, look to Paris - and maybe with a bit of imagination and a little bit of enthusiasm across the political spectrum.
"It shouldn't just be left to the Greens to talk about this stuff".
