Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Public transport is a public good. That is why we provide a PSO levy. Not all people live at either end of an Expressway route. They live in the towns and villages in between and the Expressway services offer transport provision to those people in a way that many other transport providers do not. Will the Minister address that particular issue with regard to there not being a PSO levy? That particular aspect is not wholly commercial. In addition to that, just under 20% of the population carries a travel pass. Some commercial operators do not operate with the travel pass, so Bus Éireann and the Expressway services would provide in the absence of that.

Where is the Minister's responsibility in this as a shareholder? It was defined by the National Transport Authority, NTA, at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts that he attended a couple of years ago that, "The primary function of the Government, as a single shareholder, is to manage the company." The NTA also stated that:

We simply advise the Department on what might be the appropriate levels of subsidy for public transport if we want to grow public transport in the State. [...] However, the Department manages the finances of CIE, as companies, because it is the shareholder.

I ask the Minister, as the shareholder, if there is sufficient capacity within Bus Éireann to find savings that can help to resolve this dispute. It looks to me as if there are only three things he can do. He can increase fares, cut services or find savings. Is there sufficient capacity identified within the company to provide services or to plug the gap? Otherwise, what is being negotiated is simply something that involves cuts in the incomes of those who on the front line.