Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

Public service contracts with the CIE companies are due to be in place by early December. My Department will consider the inclusion in those contracts of provisions relating to emission standards to be met by buses and rail rolling stock and the implementation of the recommendations of the Deloitte report relating to the bus companies. A number of initiatives have already been undertaken across the three companies to ensure more sustainable fleets.

The complete renewal of rail rolling stock, funded under Transport 21 and earlier investment programmes, has resulted in a more fuel-efficient fleet, which generates less emissions. Iarnród Éireann has also in the past two years achieved energy savings of 26% through the use of regenerative braking on its DART fleet. Iarnród Éireann also has fitted fuel shut-down modifications to much of the diesel fleet, thereby saving 3.5 million litres of diesel per annum.

Transport 21 also has facilitated the introduction by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann of buses and coaches meeting EU Euro 4 standards. Both companies have been using bio-diesel in their tour fleets since 2006 and Dublin Bus is currently piloting a hybrid electric bus. The Government's Smarter Travel policy, which I published in February 2009, provides that all public transport providers will prepare a plan for fleet replacement based on the most sustainable vehicle and fuel type.

The position in respect of the recommendations of the Deloitte report is that both Bus Átha Cliath and Bus Éireann have commenced implementation including, in the case of Dublin Bus, a complete review and redesign of its network to better meet the needs of its customers. The implementation of recommendations in the report relating to bus priority, integrated ticketing, bus licensing and the move to public service obligation, PSO, contracts are being pursued actively by my Department in conjunction with the key stakeholders

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