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

I thank the Minister for staying on for the full meeting.

I reiterate my support for the workers. They have taken some difficult decisions in the long-term interest and sustainability of Bus Éireann. Some of those decisions would not have been necessary had corrective action been taken by senior management at Bus Éireann, its board and the Department when it became patently obvious a number of years ago that serious financial issues faced the company. Are there consequences for the people who failed to take corrective action or decisions and who allowed this situation to develop over a 24-month period?

The Minister promised to establish a multi-stakeholder forum if the Labour Court recommendations were accepted. They have been accepted, so I am disappointed that the forum has not been established, given its importance. Will the Minister give a definitive timeframe for the forum's establishment? Who will its members be? Will the Minister fulfil his commitment to meet the unions before the forum is established? Will the private operators, who have a role to play, be a part of the forum?

I understand that there are two pension schemes across the CIE Group. One is performing well and the other is performing not so well. Do these schemes have outstanding liabilities and will that have long-term consequences in the form of the possible removal of funding from front-line services?

There is a commitment to privatise 10% of routes and I understand that this process has commenced. Is it the Minister's intention to restrict this level to 10%? I would not have imagined that he would need his officials to advise him as to whether it was his intention. Does he concur with one of the potential leaders of the Fine Gael Party, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, who said during the course of his campaigning for that leadership that he would like to see Bus Éireann 100% privatised?

While school transport falls under the Department of Education and Skills, it is administered by Bus Éireann. The anecdotal evidence being given to my constituency office - some of my colleagues might bear this out - is of an attempt to reduce the size of buses, thereby discommoding a number of people who are using them on a discretionary basis. If the number of people who are entitled to avail of school transport based exclusively on the nearest school rule is decreased, those students who have availed of it on a discretionary basis over the years are being forgotten, and that is not fair. Will the Minister examine this matter further?