Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I am used to not having much speaking time. I represent a constituency in the commuter belt. Dublin Bus and the Dublin Transport Authority, when it is fully established, will have responsibility for transport services in part of my constituency. One of the major routes between my constituency and Dublin city centre, the N81, goes through Tallaght, which is in the Acting Chairman's constituency. If there were more bus routes on the N81, we would be able to get more buses to stop in Tallaght.

I was interested to hear Deputy Cuffe's remarks. It sounded like an application for the position of chief executive officer of the Dublin Transport Authority. There was little to argue with in much of what he said about the need to establish an integrated transport system. Fine Gael and the Labour Party might be in control of Dublin City Council, Limerick City Council and other councils, but I am not sure that we are causing all the problems. I cannot say whether that is the case.

The first recommendation in the Deloitte report involves the redesign of Dublin's public transport network on the basis of recent demographics. It is extraordinary that the needs of commuter towns that have recently expanded have not been surveyed for many years. New routes are needed on major commuter arteries to link rural towns and commuter areas. I have raised this issue on many occasions, but I have not received an adequate response. No mechanism is in place to modify the delivery of public services according to population needs in places like County Wicklow. Service reductions have led to the overcrowding of vital commuter buses. We were promised that six-carriage trains would be provided, but there are just four carriages on the trains that are currently in service.

If the Government proceeds with the proposed cuts in buses and drivers and keeps new buses parked up, it will be a taking a minimalist approach to achieving cost efficiencies in Bus Éireann. When I table parliamentary questions on the Government's strategy for delivering bus services to rural towns, I am regularly informed that the Minister does not have official responsibility for sanctioning bus routes. I am told instead that it is an operational matter for Bus Éireann. That is an extraordinary devolution of powers. When a DART arrives into Greystones station, a Dublin Bus commuter bus often pulls out of the station before people have time to get on it. Dublin Bus has told me I should raise this matter with Iarnród Éireann, but I suggest that it is far easier to readjust a bus timetable than a railway service on a single line track, such as that between Dublin and Rosslare. It is impossible to rearrange the schedule, which is tightly organised as things stand. The rescheduling of Dublin Bus services, which should be a simple operational matter, could de done if people were willing to do it. We do not have to wait for the Dublin Transport Authority to be established for such simple problems can be solved.

Other recommendations in the Deloitte report relate to issues like marketing and the simplification of timetables. When I was in a city in Sweden last summer, I was able to understand a map depicting all the bus routes in the city even though I do not understand the Swedish language. The map made everything clear — the bus and tram lines, the service times and the fares. It should be possible to produce a simple tourist card explaining Dublin's public transport system in terms that are easy to understand.

The problem is that the system is not as reliable it should be. The space needed for bus services is congested because too many people prefer to use their cars. People do not use the bus because it is no quicker than a car. It is an example of the chicken and egg problem. If we do not put in place a comprehensive transport management plan for the city and its surrounds, we will not entice people out of their cars and into public transport. If we take buses out of service, we will certainly not transmit the right message.

We need to improve the marketing of public transport services. Mechanisms will have to be put in place to make it much more attractive for people to be in a bus, a tram or a train than in a car. The initial pain that people might suffer will soon ease. European cities of a similar size to Dublin do not have the same levels of traffic congestion. Public transport is used because it is more attractive.

This report is long overdue. My main concern is that representations about the service problems in County Wicklow, which we have known about for many years, are being ignored. Public transport plays a key role in reducing our carbon liabilities. The Minister for Transport needs to make a major financial commitment to public transport, particularly buses. He should be involved in the drawing up of short-term and long-term strategies. We cannot wait for the establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority, even though that will be welcome. I warn the Minister that he needs to work to ensure the authority does not become a "HSE on wheels", as someone has suggested it will be. Officials from the authority should have to attend meetings of the relevant Oireachtas committee more than once a year to make the case for the authority's funding. That case should be based on what the authority has achieved in the preceding six or 12 months and what it will do in the following six or 12 months. Officials from all authorities of this nature should have to regularly justify the continued existence of such bodies.

When an bord snip nua finishes its work, perhaps Mr. McCarthy will recommend that all the State boards that will remain in place after the process of consolidation has been completed should have to undertake the task I have mentioned. Public officials from such authorities should have to a duty to justify their budgets in front of committees established by this House. However, that does not mean more money will have to be spent on Dublin Bus. It means better value for money should be achieved.

It is simple. People have to be held accountable. It is welcome that the Dublin Transport Authority is being established, but it has to be accountable for what it achieves from its budget. Its simple goal should be to get more people out of their cars and into public transport. The amount of time it takes to commute into the city from outside the city, or even within the city, needs to be reduced. That is a simple goal. That should be what we are trying to achieve. Any attempt to blame people will not work. We have to try to work this out. The present scenario does not make sense. Some 90% of people will use public transport if it is attractive to them. When we go on holiday, we use public transport all the time. We do not use cars when we go on holiday to urban areas, as it is not cost effective to bring them with us or to hire them when we are there.

I hope there is an overhaul of public transport services in my constituency as a result of this report. It is important. Commuter towns suffer when people have to get into their cars at 6 a.m. to make it into work by 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. If one is not on the N11 at Kilmacanogue by 6.50 a.m., one might as well wait until 9 a.m. As I have said all I need to say, I will not use the rest of the time that is available to me. Perhaps the Acting Chairman would like me to make representations on behalf of Tallaght.

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