Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

This has been an interesting debate judging by the extracts I saw on the monitor. While we may differ on the approach to be taken we are all agreed on the fundamental importance of a good bus service as part of a well functioning public transport system.

This Deloitte report, of itself, will not solve all of the problems. It is an interesting report which, when we get the implementation plans from Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, will help us considerably in terms of finding a way forward. However, nobody is putting it forward as the one and only solution to all of the problems.

Action is being taken on other fronts. There are three actions which are fundamental to providing a good sustainable service into the future, namely, reform of the bus licensing regime, implementation of PSO contracts and increased bus priority.

We have been speaking for a long time about the need for reform of the bus licensing regime. The existing legislation is rather dated. In the view of many, it is not geared for the challenges of today. The main legislation is the 1932 Act which was amended by the 1958 Act. It is recognised by everyone that if we are to provide a good modern service, the legislative framework needs to be updated and changed. That is happening.

The programme for Government recognised this and outlined a number of priorities. The first of these was a commitment to expedite the establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority, which has been progressed last year with the enactment of the 2008 Act. That Act establishes a new contractual structure relating to the provision of subvented bus services in the Dublin area. It also allows private sector interests to compete for the grant of contracts to provide funded bus services. That is new. We have been talking about doing something like that for many years. There have been a number of false dawns in that regard and different views on what was needed among different shades in the political spectrum, but action is being taken. The DTA Bill has been enacted and there will be much progress on that as the months go by.

The programme for Government also includes a commitment to improve bus services by reforming the bus licensing provisions of the 1932 Act to provide a level playing field for all participants, both public and private. The Government has recently approved the drafting of a public transport regulation Bill which will contain proposals for a new regime updating the Road Transport Act 1932. It is envisaged that the new structure will apply in respect of all commercial bus services, including those provided by Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus.

That Bill will encompass provisions relating to the subvented bus market outside the Dublin area that will be consistent with the new EU Regulation No. 1370/2007 on public service obligations, PSOs, which comes into force in December next. The framework will be broadly similar to that used in the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008. It is intended that responsibility for bus licensing and public transport service contracts nationwide be assigned to the DTA under the Bill, which will be renamed as the national transport authority, given its national focus on these matters.

The Bill is being worked on and should be published and debated here in a couple of months. If we are lucky, we might start the debate before the summer recess. Often legislation takes longer coming through the system than I envisage but all going well it should be before the House before the summer.

The move to formal contracts with Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann relating to the compensation they get from the Exchequer towards the additional cost of loss making services provides an opportunity to specify more clearly the scale and quality of services to be provided. The contracts will be set out in far greater detail in future.

Reference was made to bus priority. While much has happened in recent years with the provision of bus lanes, etc., which are great at getting the buses from the suburbs in towards the city, it is accepted that there are many problems in the inner city due to particular pinch points. A bus can travel rapidly in from the suburbs but the last 500 yards can end up taking quite a time, and action will be taken on that. There is an allocation this year of €70 million in Exchequer funding for traffic management measures, including bus priority, €50 million of which is available for the Dublin area, and we will see much progress in that regard. The College Green bus gate has started its public consultation phase with city council. There is also approximately €20 million available for the other main urban areas, for bus priority and park and ride projects.

We hope that the local authorities can be a little more proactive on park and ride projects and bring them forward. Major works this year will include completion of the Carrigaline and Farranree-Blackpool green routes in Cork, the completion of phase 2 of the Dublin Road green route by Limerick County Council and further bus priority measures in Claregalway and on the Dublin Road in Galway. I would ask local authorities in urban areas to bring forward park and ride proposals.

The implementation plans arising from the Deloitte report, which will be submitted fairly soon from the two companies, will address some of the issues raised, such as bunching and out-of-service running, referred to by Deputy Kennedy. Those aspects are aggravating but they will be covered and the implementation plans should address them.

Automatic vehicle location will be introduced, which will help people by telling them where buses are and allow them to plan their journey with real-time passenger information. The DART allows passengers to see when the next train will arrive but a bus timetable, although it is well planned and well laid out, is often fiction due to traffic congestion — people do not know if they can believe it. When there is real time information, it will help convince people the bus service is of a high quality. The DART and Luas have reputations as good, reliable services but there is a lingering attitude that the bus is not a top of the range service. It is difficult, however, for the bus companies to provide a service, even with bus lanes, when they do not control the full environment. The gardaí are needed to control the traffic and the local authorities are needed to provide the roads. If we gave real-time information, and if people could look at the bus stop and see the data updated, it would give a new perception of the service and encourage greater use and confidence in it.

People mentioned integrated ticketing. Progress is being made and will start late this year and early next year.

It is often said, with a degree of truth, that the subvention to public transport here is not as good as that given in Zurich or Stockholm. We are not as good as the best, I do not deny it, but sometimes we are not comparing like with like. Some of these other countries that might, on the surface, get a better subvention must provide not just replacement buses but new buses. Over recent years, the Government has bought 200 additional buses for Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann as well as replacing several hundred others. I am not saying we are at the top of the league for subventions but when we judge that we should compare like with like.

I thank Members for their contributions. When the implementation plans are in place they will point us in the right direction. While this consultants' report targeted some individual routes, the main message asks Dublin Bus to look at all routes to see if it can make greater use of what it has. Some bus services are the same as they were years ago. A new estate would be built further out the road and two stops added to the tail of the route. It could sharpen things up and now is the right time to improve the service and offer better value for money to the taxpayer while improving the service for the punter.

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