Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Murphy and his colleagues and I thank them for the concise presentation. I will confine my remarks to Dublin Bus. I must declare an interest, as I am a customer. I am fortunate enough to have a very good bus service. Over the years under the guidance of Dublin Bus, the improvements, especially in the past ten years or so, have been phenomenal.

I can get one of a number of buses from Tallaght village and be outside Trinity College in 43 minutes during peak hours. There are very few cities in Europe in which one could get such a service.

I agree entirely with some of what Mr. Murphy said in his contribution. I take the view that given the improvements in Dublin Bus that it need not worry about the private sector taking part of its domain. I do not think that will happen in any significant way because of the changes that have taken place such as bus corridors, something which many opposed and still oppose. Many who drive cars support public transport as long as someone else is using it, which allows them the freedom of using their motor car. Reference was made to the experience in the UK. Just before Christmas I read an item to which Mr. Murphy referred on the increase in the transformation from London car owners to public transport users. That is not quite the experience in this country where the car is king. Once one gets a car, public transport is for someone else. We have a very good public transport system.

There has been much talk about Dublin Bus drivers but I have come to realise that “driver” is not an appropriate description because they are not only drivers; they are cashiers, security people and heritage officers. Anyone who uses the city bus service will know what I am talking about. One frequently hears bus drivers cum cashiers being asked in which church Jonathan Swift and Strongbow are buried. Drivers are being asked for such information while they are trying to take money. In an age of bonuses and top-ups, I would support them for Dublin Bus drivers who multi-task but I would not support them for some other people.

I have two questions for Mr. Murphy. He might have mentioned a timeframe but I did not pick up on it in the reference to the tendering process which comes on-stream in 2016. Are the 10% of contracts being tendered for one year or five years? Let us say one takes a particular route in which there is no private interest. Could Dublin Bus apply to tender in the same way as a private operator?