Mr. Ultan Courtney:

It is an honour to be nominated for reappointment as chairman to the board of Dublin Bus by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross. I thank the Chairman, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, and the members of the committee for the invitation to appear here today.

I am a native of Dublin and grew up in Artane where I attended Chanel College. I joined Córas Iompair Éireann in 1979 as a bus conductor and qualified as a bus driver in 1985. During my time in CIE I became a full time student in Trinity College Dublin and graduated in 1987 with a BA (Hons) in economics. In my final year I studied transport and labour economics and in my undergraduate thesis, I examined how economically efficient Dublin Bus was against a backdrop of other bus operators. In 1987 I left CIE and joined Ibec, starting my journey into a career in human resources and industrial relations. Having held a number of different senior management positions throughout my career, I was group HR director in C&C Group plc for seven years until 2008. For the past ten years, I have been managing director of Courtney HR which provides management consultancy services to many leading Irish companies. Throughout my career, I have received postgraduate diploma awards in judicial skills and decision making, corporate legal governance, employment law, arbitration, and also strategic management and executive coaching from Dublin Institute of Technology, DIT. I am a qualified mediator and arbitrator, master trainer and executive coach. I am currently a member of the Public Service Pay Commission, Central Bank disputes resolution tribunal and a lay member of the client and complaints committee of the Law Society of Ireland. I am a former board member of the Equality Authority and a current member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland.

The vision for Dublin Bus is to provide a transport service where people feel safe, connected and part of sustainable community life in Dublin. Over the next three years, Dublin Bus will continue to operate in an environment where economic and social development will have a significant impact on the role of buses in public transport. The priority is to meet that customer demand and provide services that the city needs. The company’s strategic imperatives are to ensure a safe, reliable and efficient service for our customers, to continue to exceed contract performance objectives, to continue the enhancement of our customers' experience, to increase urban bus usage in the Dublin area and to further strengthen the Dublin Bus brand and public transport. It is evident that an efficient public transport system is key to delivering positive economic and social development in Dublin, and, in my recent tenure as Chairman, this has been a key objective that the company has continued to make significant strides to achieve.

In 2014, Dublin Bus signed a new public service obligation, PSO, contract for a period of five years. The contract performance criteria are independently audited and Dublin Bus continues its strong record in exceeding its targets. Since 2014, the organisation has been able to grow its business in a sustainable, efficient and customer-focused manner. In 2017, Dublin Bus is on target to carry over 130 million customers, an increase of over 11 million in the past three years, while generating over €300 million in revenue, an increase of €24 million since 2014.

Dublin Bus has been successful in retaining its existing customers while attracting new customers to our service.

While Dublin commuters have a number of travel options available to them every day, at present 62% of all public transport trips into Dublin city centre are completed by bus. Our aim is to continue to make the bus the most attractive option by providing a clean, modern fleet, services that provide value for money, and innovative developments in technology. Dublin Bus services now include real-time passenger information and passenger displays at stops. The on-board experience provides accessible vehicles with on-bus real-time passenger announcements and free Wi-Fi access. The roll-out is taking place of USB charging points on our buses and both wheelchair user and buggy spaces for customers. Our daily aim is punctuality and reliability.

Dublin Bus has publicly stated that its employees are the greatest company asset, providing an essential economic service to the city. One of the company’s highest priorities is to develop its employees and continue to provide opportunities to grow and develop within the workplace. Dublin Bus is committed to equality and diversity and therefore ensures that all policies are developed to reflect the society in which it operates. This is evident in all employee policies, particularly the recently launched gender transition policy which is both progressive and inclusive. Recruitment has been a significant focus for the past few years, and many developments in recruitment policies have led to an increase in employment within the company, especially in respect of women. Dublin Bus continued to show its commitment to equality with the graduation of its first ever all-women class of drivers in 2016.

Operating in a fully competitive environment, Dublin Bus is confident in its future and its capacity to grow. While many challenges lie ahead, the company can be confident in its ability to tackle each one to ensure it remains an integral part of public transport provision in Dublin. However, on the journey to that future, the bus provides a viable option to keep the city moving, its economy growing and it its citizens working.

Congestion remains a problem in Dublin, particularly in the morning and evening peak commuting times. Many users are competing for the limited road space available, including private transport in the form of cars and motorcycles, public transport, cyclists, taxis, delivery vehicles and pedestrians. As economic growth returns, congestion levels are increasing. Congestion limits a city’s ability to achieve its full potential in the economic, environmental, social and cultural areas. Dublin is positioning itself as a modern European capital, and a congested city does not fit with this outlook. Congestion is a key challenge for the economy and one which the bus can alleviate in the short term.

As chairman of Dublin Bus, I am pleased that the performance of the bus in delivering economic growth in Dublin has been recognised through the BusConnects proposals. Seeking investment of €1 billion in bus transport in Dublin, BusConnects recognises the strategic benefits for the country of investment in urban buses. The company is fully engaged with this project and is committed to promoting and protecting the interests of our customers. We want to ensure that all parts of Dublin city and the greater Dublin area enjoy a bus network that is reliable, efficient and accessible to all. An excellent bus network is clearly of strategic importance to the city, and Dublin Bus has worked and will continue to work closely with all involved in this project to future-proof the city’s bus network for the benefit of our customers and for a successful Dublin.

The Dublin Bus brand is our identifying mark for customers and a symbol of unity for our employees. It is a major component of Dublin Bus and an iconic brand, widely recognised throughout the greater Dublin area, GDA, and further afield. The brand is a notable part of the GDA and illustrates the unified mission of Dublin Bus of providing an effective public service with an enhanced customer experience that drives its purpose as a brand and an organisation. The company’s most recent independent tracker research illustrates that satisfaction with Dublin Bus as a brand is increasing continually among its customers. The continued growth in customer satisfaction and journeys is testament to the quality of the brand. The Dublin Bus brand unites employees internally under a common goal of serving our customers and underpins the company’s corporate social responsibility activity and community initiatives.

Over the past three years, Dublin Bus has seen a continual and significant investment in the development of its fleet which ensures that it remains modern, reliable and environmentally friendly, and enables Dublin Bus to play a significant role in combating climate change. A more modern fleet has led to a saving of 190,000 tonnes of CO2 and 76 million litres of fuel over three years. The future fleet of Dublin Bus will move toward environmentally friendly engines. Dublin Bus has a long history of trialling more efficient vehicles and will work with the National Transport Authority in assisting in the delivery of environmentally friendly vehicles.

Dublin Bus will be an integral part of an integrated transport network providing a safe, reliable, efficient and continuous service to the people of Dublin. Through ongoing service development and investment, Dublin Bus will continue to provide reliable services, quality customer experience and innovative developments to our customers while also proving its status as leader within the field of public transport. I look forward to making my contribution to the company by providing strategic support, supervision and guidance over the next three years.