Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

The publication of this Bill has opened up the debate on the extent of State intervention in the bus market. There are certainly some calls to open the market to further competition. Examples such as the success of aviation deregulation have been cited in support of this view. My view and that of my party is that we must ensure public transport is strongly supported, particularly urban public transport. CIE, including Dublin Bus, should be given the resources, fleets and permissions needed to improve their services. They are going well down the road towards providing the desired service and they should be given further support.

We should certainly be cautious about increasing competition in the market. There were examples in recent times of cherry-picking of routes in some locations. It is crucial that there be an integrated network. If we do not have an integrated public transport network, everybody will suffer. Unregulated competition is always at risk of diminishing the services that are offered to the travelling public, particularly those in more vulnerable communities.

Those who advocate more competition as an attractive option for making up for the failings and inefficiencies of State bus companies, such as Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, conveniently ignore the important role of the State in providing public services as a social good. We need much more clarity on what constitutes this social good. In addition to merely granting a subvention every year, we must be forensic in determining what it is used for. This would put an onus on public transport companies to be very clear about what they use their subvention for.

Public transport is not a consumer commodity but a public service and the State has a significant role in providing it, as recognised ever since the early days of this State. I am indebted to the researchers of the Houses of the Oireachtas for their research on the Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009. It points out that, as long ago as 1924, the Minister was responsible for ensuring services were adequate in regard to their frequency and daily duration and for ensuring they have regard to other forms of public transport available to the public in the neighbourhood of the proposed route. While the language may have changed since then, an integrated service is crucial for all public transport users.

We will finally be turning a corner when we provide for Dublin Bus services such as real-time passenger information, provided by automatic vehicle locaters. We must move on from having bus stops that tell us when a bus was supposed to have left the depot. We need clarity on when a bus will arrive at a stop.

Smart card technology is improving and is almost as advanced as we desire. Within the next 12 months, we will see significant progress in that area. We need simpler fare structures. I put it to Dublin Bus, which, until a couple of years ago, had 40 different types of pre-purchasable tickets, that it should simplify its structures and make it easier for whoever is programming the integrated ticketing technology to bring all the public transport companies together. A smart card should be provided that works with every type of public transport available in our major towns and cities.

The operational remit and transport planning functions of the DTA will benefit greatly from strategic thinking in the transport field. It is no disrespect to the Minister that, at present, applications for running public bus services that are submitted to the Department of Transport seem to be churned around therein at regular intervals for a couple of years. I am not clear on the process. It seems to involve an amalgamation of the legislation of the 1920s and 1930s along with some creative thinking from the past 20 years. Dublin Bus and the private companies deserve clarity. Thus, they can have a reasonable expectation as to how an application will be judged and that it will be adjudicated on in a timely fashion. This is very important.

Achieving this boils down to addressing the issues raised by section 10, which pertains to general provisions for the consideration of applications for the granting of licences. While I welcome the inclusion of such guiding criteria as the national spatial strategy and the sustainable travel and transport action plan, I am concerned about what might be construed as a get-out clause in subsection 10(1)(b). Before listing the criteria used in examining a licence application, it states, "save where the application is in respect of a category of licence where the Authority deems it not to be appropriate, shall take account of any or all of the following: [...]". At the very least, this clause is ambiguous. It could be interpreted to mean that the authority would be granted a licence to operate a route or network of services that competes on the road with a route or network of services in receipt of a State subvention. I do not particularly want to see on-road competition provided for in this Bill. It has been a mess where it has been provided elsewhere. It would have knock-on implications for State subvention and the public purse. I would welcome clarification from the Minister in this regard.

I draw attention to recent events in the area of transportation. I was taken aback and saddened by the rollback in respect of the bus gate in College Green by Fine Gael and the Labour Party yesterday evening at a meeting of Dublin City Council. I can well understand their frustration with intervention from the Minister for Transport and my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley. At least the Minister, Deputy Gormley, is a Deputy for that area.

I wish to put my cards on the table. I strongly support giving public transport a strong priority. The decision made last night by Fine Gael and Labour Party councillors will mean that the 46A, for instance, will be less reliable and will take a longer time on its journey to and from Parnell Square and Mountjoy Square and the heart of Dún Laoghaire. That was a bad day for public transport and Christmas came early for the car park operators in Dublin city, courtesy of Fine Gael and Labour. That is a backward step.

It is crucial that we strongly support shops and businesses in the city centre, but 80% of the people who come to Dublin city do not use a car. There is a strong role for bus services, and for services for pedestrians and cyclists as well as the car in the transport spectrum. The signal given last night will give the SUVs stuck in traffic heading for Brown Thomas carte blanche to find their way around the city. It was not a good evening for bus users or for those who wish to use our bikes and will now have to compete with private cars at rush hour in College Green.

To be frank, I was surprised that the Labour Party and Fine Gael took what I believe to be a retrograde step. I commend some members of those parties, such as Andrew Montague in the Labour Party-----

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