Ms Andrea Keane:

I will start if that is okay. I do not have precise figures on the total spend on Dublin Bus services but I am happy to come back to the Senator with that information. I would like to take a few minutes to outline what we are doing in Dublin Bus with regard to antisocial behaviour. I will start with something that is maybe not obviously or immediately apparent even to our customers sometimes, which is that every Dublin Bus vehicle is in constant contact with central control. The buses and drivers are never isolated and out on their own. Each bus is also equipped with 14 CCTV cameras both internally and externally, believe it or not. Our CCTV footage is of an extremely high quality and has been recognised as such by An Garda Síochána. It has proven very helpful where there have been incidents of antisocial behaviour.

On the number of incidents, we accept that they are very distressing on an individual basis. The fact that they are relatively low in number in the context of the scale of our operations does not mean that we do not take them seriously or investigate each incident. Even if a customer does not report something, each driver must fill in a report at the end of the journey documenting the trip, and we look at and examine those statistics.

We are also active in a number of forums. I know this was referred to earlier, so I will not repeat all the forums. I would be happy to send the information requested to the committee. We are very active with communities and work with them in explaining the importance of the bus network. It has been said many times today how it is such a vital part of everybody's life. We link with An Garda Síochána and are active in our dialogue with it.