Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While I welcome the opportunity to meet the committee again, it is a source of deep disappointment that this meeting is taking place on a day when members of the public once more face delays and disruption to their travel plans. Last year the taxpayer provided Bus Éireann with approximately €230 million via the PSO, school transport, free travel and capital expenditure programmes. That is a significant amount of money. In the past two weeks we have heard public statements by management and unions in Bus Éireann acknowledging that there were inefficiencies within the company. Let me be clear: I want to see a successful and thriving Bus Éireann that will continue to be at the heart of public transport provision in rural Ireland and regional cities. I am actively working to achieve this. That is why I have made more money available to support the delivery of PSO services, instructed officials in my Department to work with colleagues in the Department of Social Protection to examine the funding of the free travel scheme and committed to further increases in PSO funding as resources allow.

I am playing my part in supporting Bus Éireann, but management and unions need to agree a deal that is fair and acceptable to both sides. That means their agreeing a deal that will safeguard the company's future for all those who rely on it, for a means of transport or a living. I cannot agree that deal, nor can this committee. Only management and unions can, as the deal will resolve the issues that are internal to the company and that those of us on the outside have no business in dictating.

Both I and the committee know it can be done and, deep down, management and unions know it too. It will require difficult discussions and will need flexibility and compromise. It will call for imagination but it can be done. Many people have concerns about policy. There are many who expect me to say the regime for commercial licensing is somehow flawed even though public transport numbers have increased and connectivity is being enhanced. I will not shy away from examining our policy and laws to ensure they are doing the job we expect them to do. There is a report from the NTA, which I and members of the committee have received, on the legal technicalities of the bus licensing system. It has identified amendments that could be made to improve the system as it stands. My Department is reviewing the report. I will consider its review and bring forward the necessary amendments to improve the bus licensing system.

Committee members have received a confidential copy of that report and I have offered a briefing to them on it. I hope the committee will be able to make an informed and detailed submission to me on what it thinks could be improved about the current licensing system. As regards the NTA's route licensing system, it already considers issues such as rural isolation and sustainable competition when considering applications from operators. I am committed to a review of public transport policy which will allow for an in-depth consideration of all relevant issues facing our transport future. The committee will be able to make an informed and detailed submission on that policy review when the consultation period starts. I assure the committee that I am prepared to meet interested parties, which includes the trade unions, about public transport policy issues that are of concern. Any such discussions, whichever form they take, cannot take place during an industrial relations dispute or when a strike is being threatened. I will always welcome contributions from those who wish to influence public transport policy in a positive, informed and constructive manner.

I want to see this crisis resolved. There are those on the committee and elsewhere who believe that a ministerial magic wand can resolve an industrial relations dispute. I have willingly intervened in the areas in which it is appropriate for me to intervene. I have made additional money available for PSO services. I have instructed officials to examine the free travel scheme funding. I have worked with the NTA in assuring rural Ireland transport connectivity will be maintained if commercial services are altered. I will not dictate to management and unions about their internal issues. I will not be involved in discussions about how the company organises itself. These are areas for agreement between management and unions. If they require external assistance, the expert advice of the WRC and the Labour Court can help them.