Mr. Billy Hann:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members of the committee for the invitation. I am joined by Mr. Philip Donohue, director of HR and development, and Mr. Ciarán Rogan, chief customer officer. Our work in Dublin Bus is based on a formula of service excellence and a customer-centred approach. Day in, day out, drivers, mechanics and all of Dublin Bus's employees reinforce this formula. My brief opening statement will focus on four challenges facing Dublin Bus, namely, safety and security, skills, customer demand, traffic congestion and variability. While there is no cause for pessimism, there is a need for action in the face of these challenges.

Dublin Bus recognises the rise in antisocial behaviour incidents across the city and the public transport network. I have consistently advocated for collaborative efforts from all stakeholders, urging the establishment of a dedicated forum to tackle these challenges collectively. I am pleased to report we are currently engaging with the Department of Transport on the establishment of such a forum. Dublin Bus has commissioned an independent review of our own procedures and we will use this forum to share outcomes and any recommendations. I also note the Cabinet's approval for the establishment of a new task force focusing on the rejuvenation of Dublin city centre. I expect that public transport will be a key focus, and Dublin Bus, as Ireland's largest public transport provider, would welcome the opportunity to contribute in any way. We will support any action that would make transport services safer. While most will rarely, if ever, encounter antisocial behaviour on our services, our priority is ensuring every driver and customer feels safe on every journey, on every route, every time. Even one incident is one too many.

Dublin Bus has a proven track record of recruitment. Over the past two years, we have recruited 870 drivers and 40 mechanics. We have also completed a very successful female recruitment campaign, which has seen 94 female drivers hired. In the case of mechanics, we have recruited from Europe and in the coming months will welcome new mechanics from the Philippines to the Dublin Bus team. The success of our recruitment campaigns should not overshadow the ongoing challenge posed by the prevailing skill shortages affecting not only Dublin Bus but also the wider transport sector.

We are ambitious as a company. We are rolling out new electric buses, implementing BusConnects and introducing additional services across Dublin. We delivered over 146 million customer journeys in 2023. This number is likely to exceed 150 million by the end of 2024. We must recruit more mechanics and skilled workers if we are to have any hope of meeting future customer demand. The skilled worker pool here in Ireland is shallower, however, than it should be. The reality is that we have lost an entire generation of apprentices. As a country, we now need to start to really ensure that we are championing the skills industry and apprenticeship programmes. Dublin Bus for its part has increased its number of apprenticeships in recent years and currently has 60 apprentices at various stages of training with a further 23 starting later this year.

Last year saw our highest customer numbers in recent years and we expect this year to deliver the highest number of customer journeys in Dublin Bus’s history. Demand for our services is growing month on month. I want to assure the committee that we are not just relying on BusConnects for investment in new services but also introducing additional services on many routes across the greater Dublin area. We continue to add additional services on many routes and are seeing increased customer demand across the network. We are determined to meet demand and grow our customer base. While we can and will improve the customer experience, making our buses more comfortable and safer, the real key to attracting more people to use public transport is faster and more reliable journey times.

The biggest barrier to faster and more reliable bus services is the dominance of the private car in Dublin. The committee is aware of my views on congestion. Six out of every ten cars are using the city centre as a route to reach a destination outside of the city centre. They take up vital road space and increase journey times for people using Dublin Bus. Moving this traffic out of the city, as the NTA and Dublin City Council transport plan seeks to do, should not impact economic activity or cultural life but should actually improve it. Today, it can take up to 29 minutes to travel just 10 km in Dublin. This clearly is not going to convince people to leave the car at home. I find this doubly frustrating because the reason for this slow progress is mostly congestion caused by cars. Ask yourself this, is it right that a line of cars with an average of one occupant per vehicle delays a bus with 85 people on it?

It is also becoming more challenging to run a consistently punctual service while operating in a city with large variances in daily traffic congestion. For example, Mondays and Fridays are much lighter traffic days than Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. This is a consequence of the post-pandemic world, where remote working is now the norm. Change is undeniably challenging. Old ways, old interests and old thinking rarely go gently or quietly. However, this should not deter us from confronting the tough decisions necessary for shaping a better Dublin. We must prioritise the collective good over individual comfort and ensure that progress for the city is not dictated by convenience. Bus operators need more priority. We need the NTA and DCC traffic plan implemented in full. We need priority bus corridors. We need to break the dominance of the private car. We need more certainty.

In conclusion, this is not about being anti-car. It is about being pro-Dublin, that is, a greener, cleaner, quieter Dublin that is a more pleasant place to live and work. It is a Dublin with more space for buses and in particular the people on them, allowing faster, more reliable journey times. This is not some utopia but is something we can achieve. People are voting with their feet and are using Dublin Bus in record numbers. In a competitive and uncertain environment, however, we cannot take recent progress for granted. I have set out some of the barriers to even greater progress. I am, however, confident we can overcome them once we all work together and Dublin, not just Dublin Bus, will be the real winner. I thank the committee and look forward to members' questions.