Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

It does not have to be like this. Congestion is not a problem of prosperity but of poor Government. The Government has deliberately starved Dublin commuters of additional buses, with no increase in the Dublin Bus fleet between 2001 and late 2005. Transport 21 only delivered 17 new buses in 2005 and 15 this year and, in both cases, the buses were not operational until November or December. QBCs without adequate bus services and bus services without adequate QBCs remain a problem.

The only short to medium-term solution to the traffic chaos in the GDA is to provide commuters with the option of reliable public transport through improved bus services. The Government's approach to bus services has been lethargic and incompetent. No serious attempt has been made to develop them to the point to where they are seen by the public generally as a realistic, reliable or attractive alternative to the private car. There are lessons to be learned from the experience with Luas. When commuters are given the option of a transport system which they can depend on, which is fast and which ensures reliable journey times, they will make the switch. Many of the characteristics of Luas can be replicated across the GDA if a strategic approach is adopted to bus services. There is an urgent need to vastly expand bus capacity, speed up journey times and make bus travel financially attractive. Only then will significant numbers of people leave their cars at home.

The first part of this motion calls for the addition of 500 buses to the Dublin fleet. At a time of great demand for public transport, Dublin has been starved of buses. Under the current national development plan, NDP, the Government promised to provide Dublin Bus with 275 additional buses by the end of 2006. This promise was never kept and, astonishingly, at a Dáil committee last week the Minister suggested that the buses were not provided because they were not needed. How far removed are the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, from reality? It is hard to believe the Minister has any understanding of his area of responsibility or has any regard for the thousands of commuters stuck in traffic on a daily basis.

Incredibly, in spite of population growth and increased numbers in employment between 2001 and late 2005, the Government refused to increase the size of the Dublin Bus fleet of 1,062. Late last year, there was a minor increase and the same occurred this year and we are told the figure will rise to 1,182 by the end of next year.

There is a vague Government promise to provide a further 100 buses from the private sector and this is supposed to be overseen by a Dublin transport authority that we have yet to see. Not only will this not meet demand, the issue is when, if ever, we will see these promised buses. The Dublin transport authority has yet to be established, does not even have an interim chief executive officer and no Bill for its establishment has yet been published by the Minister for Transport, let alone passed by the Dáil. In addition, reform of bus licensing law which dates back to 1932 is required, although legislation is not expected to be available until the end of 2007 at the earliest.

The Government's proposals are hopelessly inadequate. In its network review of 2005, Dublin Bus set out the need for an extra 425 buses, primarily to service areas of expanding population and to increase bus frequency along quality bus corridor, QBC, routes such as Tallaght, Rathfarnham, south Clondalkin, Malahide, Blanchardstown and Lucan, all of which badly need more buses. It is inexcusable that the Government continues to deny commuters decent public transport and it is particularly frustrating for commuters to see bus lanes without buses.

The Labour Party accepts the figure of 425 extra buses that Dublin Bus proposes, but we also want to extend expressway and limited stop services from outside the M50 and from park and ride sites. We want to expand orbital and feeder services and we want more local services for centres of population, work and commerce. To do this, Dublin Bus would require 500 additional buses in its fleet.

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