Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Chairman might need to consider extending the meeting because I have loads of questions.

I direct most of my questions to Ms Graham. I congratulate her. The last time I sat opposite her, she was a manager in the south-central area in Dublin City Council. She has done well; fair play to her. She is probably more important than the Minister, because his response to nearly everything we asked him was that it was an operational matter. I was nearly going to say "an ecumenical matter", a Fr. Ted Freudian slip. The Minister referred everything back to the National Transport Authority.

I ask Ms Graham to make a comment about subvention. I worked in Dublin Bus. I was a representative for the NBRU for years. I met Mr. Ray Coyne as a local representative in the south-central area when the services were being rearranged and cut the last time. It is extraordinary how Dublin puts up with one of the lowest rates of subvention for a capital city in Europe. I ask Ms Graham to comment on that as somebody in charge of operational matters. I refer to subvention for all companies and not just Dublin Bus.

I have a specific question on the Dublin Bus strike. It is not about the outcome and will not affect the ballot. Will the NTA fine Dublin Bus for the strike days lost? If so, what is the point in that when the company is already struggling to survive? Similarly, has it fined Luas and collected the fines for the strike days lost there?

I ask about extra licensing during the strike days. On one of the Fridays when Dublin Bus was on strike, I observed dozens of private buses lined up on Eden Quay to go to Swords and Rush and other places on the north side. They are not normally there on a Friday. Did the NTA license extra buses or give the go-ahead for extra buses to be run by private operators anywhere during the Dublin Bus strike days?

Ms Graham was already asked about returning Dublin Bus profits. I am delighted to hear that these profits, although returned to the NTA, then went to help the struggling Bus Éireann. However, I found Mr. Nolan’s comments the most honest. He spoke about Bus Éireann scrambling through this commercial pressure of competition that is forcing it to reduce its labour costs etc. because of the much lower costs of the private operators. Surely that really describes what is going in public transport. It is the pressure from the private operators on struggling companies that have the lowest subvention in Europe. Can we begin to look at that as an issue for public transport in this country? Why are we issuing so many private company licences on the routes that are already covered by our national bus company, Bus Éireann?

When speaking about the role of Bus Éireann, Mr. Nolan said it provides the access to health care centres throughout Ireland. This is a very important point. Many of the people involved would have a free travel pass and would not have to pay. Will the increased privatisation of routes impact on access to centres of excellence in Dublin, Waterford, Cork etc. for people with disability or old age passes and who have cancer or other ailments,? That is an issue for the public in general.

Can Mr. Coyne explain why he thinks it is wise for Dublin Bus to use FirstCare to track sick leave for bus drivers?

I find it extraordinary that management does not play that role. Given that the number of casual sick leave days was reduced from seven to four, why does Mr. Coyne now think there is a need to get somebody in England to ring the bus driver daily to ask how he or she is feeling?

To compliment Irish Rail, if what Ms Graham said is true, namely, that the NTA has exceeded its 2020 CO2 emissions reduction targets already, it is a case of hats off and well done. That is a fantastic achievement and the NTA should be crowing about it. I do not know what the position is - we could discuss the matter at the climate change committee - but it might be possible to make a special case for the NTA to get funding from Europe in order that it might put more money into Irish Rail to help achieve the similar outcomes to those already realised. I would be very interested in seeing Irish Rail revert to considering perhaps the reopening of disused railway lines that go to Donegal and Kerry and from Waterford to Cork. What a big difference that could make to travel in this country if we could invest in the reopening of the lines that already exist. Irish Rail probably still owns much of the routes and land. Perhaps Mr. Franks could comment on that. I am sorry for asking so many questions.