Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their opening statements. I have a few points. Going back to what Deputy O'Rourke mentioned regarding the 20% fare reduction, I accept there has been a certain element of unfairness concerning commercial operators. I note it was mentioned that it was made party policy at the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis. Unfortunately, we have a Fine Gael Taoiseach and it has not become Government policy yet, so that needs to change rapidly. We had it in our pre-budget submission last year to extend the 20% fare reduction to commercial bus operators. It is nice that the Government is catching up but hopefully it will catch up properly and actually do something about it.

The other issue is full buses. People are on to us all the time, particularly in Dublin. They wait at the bus stop, the bus comes and it is full. They wait, the sign flashes up, three minutes, six minutes and eight minutes go by and there is still no bus. The buses are full each time. Sometimes, when I inquire about this, I am told it is traffic congestion causing the delays. When I talk to people, they tell me it is not traffic delays, it is that the buses are packed all the time and there do not seem to be enough buses on the routes to provide the service. Will the witnesses comment on what can be done to resolve that issue?