Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Does the Minister accept that, as clearly shown in the Deloitte report, at 29% the public service obligation, in other words the subsidy received by Dublin Bus, is among the lowest in city bus companies in the European Union? It is bottom of the old 15. The subsidy of 12% is the lowest of any major regional company.

Was the Minister informed or did he have discussions on the huge range of cutbacks at Dublin Bus where approximately 1,000 scheduled journeys are being cancelled and services on a range of routes such as the 123, 19, 13, 13A, 11A, 45, 121, 122, 172, Euro buses and Nitelinks are being slashed? Was the Minister aware of this during recent months or is it something else in his portfolio he did not know about?

The Minister referred to the efficiency of Dublin Bus but he will remember that Deloitte gave Bus Éireann a clean bill of health and stated it was very efficient. Why is Bus Éireann losing 150 buses? Does the Minister accept the recent comments of the distinguished journalist, Fintan O'Toole, that what he is doing shows personal contempt by him and the Government for people, particularly those on low incomes, senior citizens and all of those dependent on buses? It is a fact that we will have cutbacks of at least 10% when passenger numbers have reduced by only 3.5%. At the worst of times, the Minister is showing utter contempt for people who use buses.

See this speech in context