Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for coming here today and giving us the benefit of their time and experience in the public transport sector over recent years. When the subvention to Dublin Bus was reduced, it managed to increase passenger numbers and revenue and profit. It is to be complimented on that. If, as expected and as the Minister has indicated, there will be an increase in subvention to Dublin Bus, do the witnesses feel that gives it an opportunity to increase capacity further and improve the service, thereby generating a greater turnover and profit? It would then be a much more sustainable model.

I am amazed at how the National Transport Authority, NTA, sometimes inhibits Bus Éireann from providing additional routes. We contacted Bus Éireann recently about a route from Mullingar to Maynooth for students going to college and it said it would be an eight month turnaround. A private company took up the slack and is running two journeys from Mullingar to Maynooth every morning. There does not seem to be a level playing field. I would welcome the witnesses' thoughts on that. When a licence is issued, what controls or sanctions does the NTA have for a private operator if it does not fulfil the terms and conditions of its licence?

An example, to be parochial again, would be a route from Mullingar to Dublin which initially serviced Kinnegad and Kilcock but after two or three weeks stopped servicing these towns and became a direct route from Mullingar to Dublin. This would be most welcome for the passengers using it, and they would not complain because they would get from their original stop to their destination much faster and, perhaps, much more cheaply. There is inequity in how this is being dealt with and I would welcome the opinion of the witnesses on this.

The lack of capital investment is a serious worry and is leading to huge congestion in the capital city in particular. There needs to be capital investment not only in the capital city but throughout the country. Currently, Dublin is gridlocked not only when people are arriving in the mornings and going home in the evenings but pretty much in any part of the day. The witnesses have vast experience in public transport. How would they prioritise the projects which would best help to deal with congestion, improve the efficiency and reliability of public transport and improve the experience of passengers with better times and a reduction in fares?

This brings me to my next point, which is the increase in fares. There is no comparison between the level of subvention our public transport gets and that in other European countries. The difference that has to be made up is being made up through public fares. Public fares have been increasing over the past six or seven years, but passenger numbers have also been increasing. Do the witnesses believe the fares prohibit people from using public transport? Do they feel that if fares were reduced passenger numbers would increase significantly and would compensate for the reduction in fares? Do they have any empirical evidence that could back this up?

I must attend another meeting so if I have to leave before they witnesses reply to my questions I will read the transcript or look at it online later.