Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

I am not wrong. The Minister cannot introduce that proposal under EU law by January 2009. Time will tell but industry is important. Labour is the party for people's jobs — traditionally we are not the party for industry but even we recognise all stakeholders should be consulted, including the industry. This proposal should have been examined by the taxation commission. If the Minister was serious about reducing carbon emissions in the budget, he would have ensured major public transport projects were fast-tracked.

The easiest project to undertake is investment in Dublin Bus. I attended a meeting as a councillor in 1999 or 2000 at which the DTO made a presentation on its Platform for Change. Its strategy was to invest in Dublin Bus as a short-term measure followed by investment in the existing rail infrastructure and then the Luas and metro. However, eight years later, none of this has been done. Dublin Bus is still being held back in the provision of appropriate bus services throughout the city. This comes down to ideology. The Government does not want to invest in Dublin Bus, provide additional buses and encourage people out of their cars. It has dithered about public transport. Transport 21, environmental impact assessments and so on are not needed to ensure something is done about Dublin Bus. The Minister should order the buses and commission them. The Labour Party has proposed the subsidising of fares and the introduction of a €1 bus fare. Such an initiative would have been given priority if the Green Party and its Government partners were serious about tackling transport emissions. This legislation will ensure a sustained increase in these emissions. According to the Irish Independent over Christmas, it is predicted such emissions will be 260% above 1990 levels by 2016 if something is not done about public transport.

This is about ideology. The Minister does not need to introduce a Dublin transport authority Bill or to get Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and the RPA together to agree anything. He should begin with Dublin Bus and give the company the buses it was promised years ago.

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