Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for inviting me today to discuss the situation at Bus Éireann. I do not for one minute underestimate the challenge facing Bus Éireann and I know this committee, irrespective of differing perspectives, does not either. It is unfortunate that these difficult issues have arisen on the 30th anniversary of the company's establishment in 1987 but in some ways that anniversary reminds us how different a place Ireland now is compared to then and how different the operating environment within which Bus Éireann now operates is too.

Today Bus Éireann fulfils three different but important roles. It acts as the provider of taxpayer-funded public service obligation, PSO, services under contract with the National Transport Authority, NTA. Those PSO services carry approximately 40% of the company's total passenger journeys in any one year. It continues its role as the administrative agent of the Minister for Education and Skills in terms of the school transport services. These services carry approximately 50% of the company's total passenger journeys each year. It also acts as a commercial bus company under the Expressway brand, offering inter-city services across its 23 Expressway routes, often in competition with other operators. Those 23 routes carry around 10% of the company's total passenger journeys each year, yet it is Expressway, which, despite its small size in the overall context of the company, is the root of its current difficulties.

The taxpayer recognises the company's importance. That is why just over €40 million was granted to the company last year to provide those socially necessary but commercially unviable PSO services, while in addition the company receives around €150 million per annum of taxpayer funding in respect of its school transport work.

The recently confirmed PSO outturn for 2016 means that last year Bus Éireann received 21% more in taxpayer funding for PSO services than the year before. This year I secured 11% additional funding for overall public transport services, which will see Bus Éireann benefit from even more taxpayer funding in 2017. The €40 million of taxpayers' money in 2016 supported approximately 230 routes across the country, in every county outside Dublin. From Dungloe in Donegal to Goleen in Cork, from Clifden in Galway to Carlingford in Louth, the Bus Éireann PSO bus service is a vital, vast and much-used service across rural Ireland. That taxpayer funded transport connectivity is at the heart of our public transport system. Under legislation passed by the Oireachtas, the NTA has the statutory powers to ensure continued public transport connectivity regardless of decisions taken by any individual operator. The NTA has assured rural Ireland that it can, and will, step into any area, consult with local communities, and assess what public transport services are required and what is the best method to provide them. It has done this in the past and will do so in the future. Accordingly, the NTA will ensure that there is no negative impact on the connectivity of rural communities.

As I have said, however, in addition to its vast PSO network, Bus Éireann also operates commercial services under its Expressway brand. Equally, we all know those services lose money. If a company wishes to operate a commercial service then that service must make commercial sense. That is a basic concept that I think is well understood, the taxpayer cannot fund the commercial services of one operator and not fund those of all other operators. That is a basic principle of fairness and also, importantly, a fundamental tenet of national and European law. Let me be clear – I cannot provide such funding. As a company Bus Éireann needs to examine how it operates and how the company will be able to not just survive, but thrive in a country and a bus market that have changed for the better since 1987.

In difficult situations such as these, we often see periods like the last few weeks, where accusation and counter-accusation fly back and forth, fuelling media speculation and adding to the uncertainties and upset of bus users and company employees. We all know that ultimately these disputes will only be settled by open, constructive and realistic engagement between the parties involved, the company and its employees. I know this might seem strange but I saw some signs of hope last week because amid all the noise, we heard two clear messages. The first was that trade unions are willing to engage on the basis of no preconditions. The second was the acting CEO confirming to this committee that nothing he has said or issued in recent weeks constitutes preconditions.

If the two parties are claiming they do not have preconditions, it makes one wonder why they are not talking. The State is ready and able to assist in these situations, as it has done since 1946 when the Oireachtas first established the State's industrial relations resolution bodies. Both parties need to reflect immediately on how these bodies can assist and instigate whatever action is needed to ensure discussions begin. I cannot understand, in the light of the statements both parties have made, what is hindering them from coming to the table or using the institutions and bodies of the State to come together.

The word "policy" has been used a lot in recent weeks. I am clear on whom public transport policy should be about; it is about the ordinary citizen. When we strip away the rhetoric, everyone in this room who claims to want to advance public transport services agrees with that statement or, at the very least, should be able to agree with it. In fact, the same sentiment featured throughout the Oireachtas debates in 2009 when the then Minister, Noel Dempsey, introduced what is now the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009. It is that legislation, as passed by the Oireachtas, that reformed the restrictive practices of the past and hauled commercial bus services into the 21st century. The Act sought to place the citizen at the heart of these services rather than the vested interests of the past, as enshrined in a law dating back to 1932. Most importantly, the Act provided a platform for citizens to avail of better services, frequencies and fares. The ordinary citizen has embraced the reforms introduced by the Oireachtas, as evidenced by the 23 million people all over the country who chose to use a commercial bus service in 2015.