Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies on all sides of the House for their contribution to this debate. A number of very interesting points were raised and I look forward to engaging with Deputies on Committee Stage on them. Despite the fact Fine Gael may call a vote on Second Stage, if I detected what was said correctly, in general, there appears to be an underlying welcome for the Bill and for what it achieves, and I welcome that.

As I mentioned in my opening statement, the Bill provides a very important building block in a public transport legislative reform programme which builds on the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 and aims to put in place a totally new framework for the future regulation and control of public passenger land transport. I reiterate that the focus of the Bill is to provide a new licensing regime for commercial public bus passenger services that is better equipped to deal with modern demands and, despite some views expressed, will facilitate a level playing field for all bus market operators, both private and public. That is extremely important and is almost a core value of this Bill.

A number of Deputies adverted to the fact the Bill is overdue. That is true. It is overdue in the sense that it is 77 years since we passed the original legislation, which was the Road Transport Act 1932. It has been long recognised as being unsuited to modern conditions. It is certainly unsuited to the varying demands and needs of interurban, suburban, rural, local and community services. The fact remains, however, that we now have a proposal that will assist the Dublin Transport Authority which, after the passing of this legislation, will be called the national transport authority, in the promotion of regulated competition in the provision of licensed national bus passenger services in the interests of the public at large now and in the future. That has been generally welcomed by everyone who made a contribution, and I thank them for that.

The Bill also extends the power of the DTA under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 to give it a national role in regard to the procurement of public land transport services and the future subvention of non-commercial bus and rail services. The contracting arrangements in Part 3, chapter 2, of the Act are being extended nationwide. Those legislative provisions have been prepared to be consistent with EU law and EU Regulation No. 1370 of 2007 on public service obligations. In particular, the new contractual structure of the public service obligation transport services will place a particular emphasis on transparency and performance based objectives and criteria. Again, a number of Deputies spoke about the necessity for a transparent system and for transparent objectives and criteria.

The third important objective of the Bill is to address the amalgamation of the Commission for Taxi Regulation into the Dublin Transport Authority which, in light of its proposed national focus in regard to commercial bus licensing, the expansion of the contractual regime for public transport services and the regulation of small public service vehicles and their drivers will be renamed as the national transport authority. The Commission for Taxi Regulation will be dissolved and subsumed into the new authority which will take on the functions of the commission under the Taxi Regulation Act 2003.

The Commissioner for Taxi Regulation and the staff of the commission will transfer to the authority on terms and conditions of employment no less favourable to those to which they are currently entitled. Sections 39 and 40 of the Bill provide for that.

A number of other legislative amendments are contained in the Bill to address a number of important issues through amendments to the road planning and road traffic legislation. The amendment of the Planning and Development Act in section 44 gives the authority a role in regard to the preparation of regional planning guidelines on a national basis consistent with the move towards having a national transport authority. Section 30 will facilitate the consideration of further expansion of the remit and functions of the authority in this area. It is also hoped that the streamlining of the delivery of bus services and bus priority measures will prove beneficial in terms of the provision of enhanced services for the public.

A number of Deputies spoke about rural transport, the rural transport programme and the fact there is no reference to it in the Bill. That is true because the rural transport programme currently works outside the licensed bus system unless where there are particular contractual services. The point most Deputies made, and with which I agree, was on the need for the retention and, if at all possible, the expansion of the rural transport programme. As I indicated elsewhere, this is a matter for a decision by the Government. This Government and a previous Fianna Fáil-led one introduced the scheme and expanded it consistently since 2003. That is very much part of our philosophy and our belief in trying to provide services in rural Ireland. I hope we will be able to continue with that.

There was much discussion among Deputies on both sides on the whole concept of regulated competition as opposed to total deregulation. I must emphasise that I am against total deregulation and total free-for-alls. They have not worked too well in most countries in which they have been tried and they would certainly spell an end to public transport as we know it and to any kind of commitment to social and economic disadvantage. That would be a factor in our public transport system. I am not in favour of total deregulation.

The concept in the Bill is regulated competition, which is particularly important. Section 10 is at the heart of this process of regulated competition and it is firmly based on the EU concept of regulated competition as well. Under the Bill, the revised bus route licensing provisions facilitate the optimum provision of services by providing a level playing field for all market participants, both private and public operators such as Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. All will be licensed and operated under the same rules. That is the level playing field about which we are talking and is a measure which has been long sought by people in the private sector and by many public representatives. It is in the interests of equality of access to the transport market that provision was included in the original agreed programme for Government, and in a previous one. It is continued in the current programme for Government.

Regulated or controlled competition under the Bill follows very clearly the concept outlined in European law, in particular in Regulation No. 1370 to which I referred earlier. The Bill does not permit unfettered competition which, on the basis of experience elsewhere, can lead to market domination by one operator to the detriment of the state and, more important, to the detriment of consumers and customers. There is a clear structure in this Bill against which applications for bus route licensing will be considered. In particular it introduces the concept of the demand test in section 10 to which I have already referred and which places the consumer at the heart of any process.

It is the intention in the Bill to match demand and service rather than to protect the existing or prospective service-providers. Some of the commentary on this Bill outside this House would lead me to believe that people are reading this legislation in isolation and not taking fully into account what is already contained in the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008. It is important to make that point.

A number of Deputies have also referred to enforcement and penalties. There is no doubt one of the most significant flaws in the existing and current legislation, the 1932 Act, is the level of penalties. A fine of €63 and €6 per day for a continuing offence is no deterrent to anybody and there have been good examples of how this is no deterrent. The Bill will impose a modern system of penalties and associated powers, particularly the power for the revocation of licences. This is not an easy call but we need to be in a position to take strong action with regard to those who persistently breach their licences and those who engage in predatory practices. Apart from the introduction of heavier fines, the power of revocation of licences is very important. I give due notice to those who appear to be flouting the law as it stands. If they are in breach of licensing conditions or have not applied for licences, I will do everything possible to ensure this legislation will allow us to take this into account when those people are applying for licences, particularly those engaged in predatory behaviour.

Change in the level of penalties is overdue. We must ensure that legal operators who invest a lot of money are protected, be they public or private operators. The combination of increased financial penalties and clear powers for revocation of licences where a holder has not met the conditions under which the licence was granted will offer protection to the compliant service-providers and the public. If a service-provider does not meet or fails to continue to meet the basic requirement of the road transport operator's licence which sets the standards for access to the profession of providing all types of bus transport, his or her route licence will, under this legislation, also be revoked automatically.

A number of Deputies have argued that the Bill protects the CIE group of companies but this is untrue. We must protect the public services in existence because it is not possible to change a system overnight. Section 52 is an important element as it promotes the pursuit of direct award contracts between the authority and Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Irish Rail, for the continued provision of their existing range of subvented bus and rail services within the greater Dublin area. It is important to continue those services but they will not be continued indefinitely. The Bill initially provides the companies with exclusive rights to continue to provide services and mandates the authority to enter into direct award contracts so as to establish the basis for the maintenance of State funding for those services consistent with the provisions of EU Regulation No. 1370 to which I referred previously.

See this speech in context