Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

It would be good if the Minister clarified the scenario regarding the DTA later this week when his amendments are dealt with by the Seanad and the President signs the Bill in order that what happened to Deputy Durkan's and Deputy Stagg's constituents in Celbridge a few weeks ago will not happen again. The DTA will be the operator of last resort and will prevent a dedicated and valuable transport service from disappearing.

The major problem is legislation was passed when most of the population travelled on bicycles and horses and carts in 1932. Eighty years later, we are trying to deal with a totally different world. Fianna Fáil Government after Fianna Fáil Government refused to address the key issues, in particular in the past 11 years. We have waited six or seven years for clarity on bus licensing in the GDA and nationwide. The Minister and his predecessors, Deputies Brennan and Cullen, have been abject failures in facilitating public transport. What has happened is totally unacceptable. In addition to losing private sector services that were up and running, the Government has handicapped the current public service operators. These companies often came forward with valuable plans. For example, Dublin Bus came up with a plan for the greater Swords area while Bus Éireann drivers suggested that a service between Dublin and Tullow, County Carlow, was feasible, but company management was unable to progress it because officials in the Department of Transport felt they could not make a decision on licensing.

This has been an incredible failure of Government. What does the word "quickly" mean when used by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats? The Government has introduced only nine Bills this session. Over the first year of this miserable Government, which is turning into a massive cutback Government, public transport has been the greatest failure. The existing dedicated operators have been handicapped and other operators have been prevented from entering the market. It is deplorable and disgraceful. The way the Minister is going, we will not even see this authority by this time next year, which is appalling.

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