Ms Anne Graham:

I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for her kind comments. Regarding the subvention and what the rates are compared to other European countries, it can be difficult sometimes to carry out such comparisons because it may not be possible to compare like with like. The subvention is a public service obligation, PSO, subvention but there are other subventions that also go into public transport in Ireland, namely, the free travel and taxsaver schemes. There is a tax loss associated with the taxsaver scheme, which also increases the State's subvention of public transport. These elements, taken together, bring up the level of overall subvention. Generally, however, it would still not really be comparable to other regions, particularly city regions, in Europe. Therefore, we would like to see the level of subvention increased because it allows us to provide additional services and to consider our fares structure and see whether any improvements can be made to it in order to encourage more people to use public transport, which is what we are all about - increasing the amount of modal shift to public transport.

Regarding the strike, under the contract we have with Dublin Bus, it is set out what we do when services are not operated. This applies not just to Dublin Bus but across all three operators. There are fines associated with the non-provision of services. While they have not yet been collected from Dublin Bus, they will be imposed for those days of industrial action. Similarly, they were imposed for the strike days affecting Luas services-----