Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this important legislation but I am disappointed it is being rushed through the House. While significant time was allocated for Second Stage, the intention is to enact the legislation within a few weeks. It has major implications for the development of our public transport system and bus services, in particular, for generations. We need to think long and hard about this. I acknowledge numerous consultants have been appointed and reports and recommendations made but it is important that the Minister gets section 10, in particular, right to ensure the service we want is achieved because deregulation in other sectors of the economy in the past has not worked like we had anticipated when the relevant legislation was enacted. The Bill will require detailed scrutiny on Committee Stage and I hope time will be provided to do so.

Deputy Durkan mentioned the lack of accountability of many agencies under the aegis of the Department of Transport that were established in recent years. This permits the Minister to trot out the standard line that he has no official responsibility to the House regarding them. That system must change and accountability to the House must be re-introduced. Last year the OECD highlighted that there were more than 600 quangos in the State, which has led to fragmentation in the delivery of policy and a lack of accountability. The original plans for this legislation would have resulted in an array of different agencies overseeing the deregulated market but the more streamlined structure proposed has many positive aspects.

If competition is to be worthwhile, the service provided to the public must improve. I am concerned that if the Minister does not ensure the provisions of section 10 are laid out clearly, that may not happen. We want more than a change in the logo on the side of a bus as a result of this legislation because no one will not benefit. It is important to reflect on what happened in the UK. Mistakes were made in London regarding deregulation mainly because the bus garage infrastructure was handed over to companies and privatised but the authorities have learned form that. There have also been huge problems in the deregulation of the bus market outside London because of a lack of competition. Only three major players provide services in England and Wales and they more or less have a privatised monopoly. The Department should not transfer a service from Bus Éireann to a private company, which would result in the current monopoly being maintained. While initially this might result in increased service frequency, the company might slowly withdrawn services, which could result in the bus network reducing rather than expanding.

It is vitally important that the legislation contains adequate provisions to ensure not only that the existing network is maintained but services are enhanced and extended to other areas. I have concerns in this regard that need to be addressed, especially in rural areas. The Minister debated the provision of rural transport services earlier and I read Mr. Colm McCarthy's commentary on school transport with interest. He referred to car ownership in the State, which is significant, but there is a big difference between car ownership and car availability. While that has changed over the past 12 months because of the way the Government has run the economy into the ground, up until then, many people in rural communities commuted to work in Dublin or elsewhere. While two cars might have been outside the front door at 8 p.m. between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. no vehicle was available. The Minister is from a rural constituency and he will be aware that in recent years if a farmer was in trouble with an animal, it was impossible to find a neighbour to assist to him because everyone was at work and the same applies regarding access to cars.

We need to examine issues in rural areas. The review of the rural transport scheme should examine how the uptake of existing services can be maximised because it is vital to enhance interconnectivity to ensure the existing network is developed. Co-ordination is needed between operators in order that local and national operators are not servicing towns and villages within a few minutes of each other.

Bus stops are an issue. One only has to walk up and down Kildare Street to see the array of coloured bus stops denoting the various operators providing services. The same applies on every main thoroughfare in the State. One centralised bus stop should be provided, which all operators would use while operating a co-ordinated timetable to ensure services can be maximised. Such bus stops are not only a hazard for those with a visual impairment, they are unsightly. The current system also does not provide for the co-ordination that is needed in the provision of public transport.

Integrated ticketing is also crucial in this regard. Perhaps the Minister will update the House in his reply on this issue. Integrated ticketing was more widely available ten years ago than it now. Ten years ago I could board a train in Roscommon or Athlone and buy a ticket that would take me directly to Leinster House but I cannot do so anymore. Such a ticket that would permit me to use both train and bus services cannot be issued. That is one example of the lack of co-ordination. If competition is to be encouraged and different operators are to be given access to the market, it is important that a proper integrated ticketing system be put in place.

It must be ensured that when services are put out to tender, a mix of profitable and unprofitable routes are bundled together. For example, there would be huge competition for the Dublin to Galway inter-city route because it is one of the most valuable routes in the country. What about the connecting services, say from Boyle to Athlone? In my own constituency we have a relatively good network of services to Dublin but an appalling service to Galway. Breast cancer services are being removed from Mayo and Sligo and accident and emergency services are being relocated to Galway from smaller hospitals. However, public transport does not cater for the people who will use these relocated services. At present, it is far easier to travel to Dublin by public transport than to Galway. In a couple of weeks time, changes in the rail timetable will make it feasible to reach any hospital appointment in Dublin but it is impossible to get to a hospital appointment in Galway by public transport.

We must see the expansion and development of new services. It is important that the issue of public transport services is addressed in section 10. Capacity must be increased and not merely transferred from one bus service to another. That will not benefit anyone in the long run. This must be done in a regulated and controlled manner to ensure a smooth transition from the current to the proposed new system, as envisaged in the legislation. Unplanned and unco-ordinated developments will not work. Small unprofitable routes must be bundled together with profitable routes. Attention must be paid to service provision. There must be detailed targets for capacity, frequency and punctuality on routes and those targets must be met.

Profitable routes and sections of routes will survive without help while operators may wash their hands of unprofitable aspects. This will present a complex challenge to the authority. If each route is tendered individually there will be huge problems in delivering the service we need. Tendering a bundle of services including, for example, the inter-city Dublin to Galway service and the existing rural networks in Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon, would guarantee that those rural services would be retained. For example, a private contractor who is granted the route from Lanesboro through Roscommon to Athlone may find that the only profitable part of the route is from Roscommon to Athlone and may allow the other part of the route to waste away, either by disimproving the frequency or providing buses at unsuitable times so that passengers do not use the service. The operator may then apply to the regulator to cancel that part of the service.

The current penalty system for unlicensed operators is a mess. The fines imposed are a joke. An operator can blatantly ignore the law until the Department pursues him and eventually imposes a derisory fine. The next day the operator can apply to the Department for a licence on the same route and the licence is usually granted. This does not make sense. Operators who flout the law until caught, should not be granted licences.

When the Bill is enacted and a service is put out to tender and granted to an operator, that operator must provide the level of service to which he or she has committed. An operator who comes in and takes a profitable aspect of a route should not be rewarded by being granted another licence. The Garda must be given the power to stop such an operator from providing a service. That is not happening at present. Provision must be made in the Bill to deal with operators who ignore the law but are nevertheless granted licences subsequently. That cannot continue when this Bill is enacted. There must be adequate sanctions to deal with operators who ignore the law.

I welcome the reference in section 10 to the need to preserve good order and safety on public roads. What will the regulation be with regard to bus stops, which are part of the transport infrastructure? Mistakes were made in the past regarding infrastructure. The telecommunications infrastructure was handed over to Eircom, for example, when it became a private operator. We all regret the day that happened. What will happen with regard to bus stops? They are owned by local authorities, Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus or private operators. It would not be feasible to allow four or five bus shelters on a main thoroughfare. In the past, we have seen delays in the tendering process. European Union tendering procedures have caused problems with regard to the provision of bus shelters throughout the country. We are, at long last, beginning to see them provided in rural areas. However, who will own and control them? Will we see buses stopping ten yards from a bus shelter because the bus and the shelter are owned by different operators?

We must be careful how bus routes are opened up to competition. Franchising blocs of routes and combining profitable and loss-making routes in bundles, is the way to go. Specific performance targets must be set for schedules, passenger numbers and so on. These targets must be placed in the public domain so that we can see which operators are meeting the criteria laid down.

See this speech in context