Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I move amendment No. 17:

In page 8, between lines 41 and 42, to insert the following:

"(i) the protection of the integrity of the national urban and local bus network,".

These five amendments divide naturally into two groups and amendments Nos. 17 and 21 go together. Amendment No. 17 seeks to include, between lines 41 and 42 in the general provision for considering licences, a new clause (i) to include the words "the protection of the integrity of the national urban and local bus network". Amendment No. 21 seeks to add a new clause (ii), between lines 44 and 45, to include the words "the need for the provision, maintenance and investment in public transport infrastructure and modern bus fleets across all networks and for all users,".

It goes without saying that over the past decades Bus Éireann has put together a good, effective, national bus network. This network was constructed to serve the widest possible group of passengers and consumers. It was constructed to include as many towns and villages as possible on the various routes so as to provide comprehensive access in rural Ireland. Earlier we spoke about the rural transport network, which we hope will escape the axe in the budget. I proposed and hoped that this network would become part of the national bus network constructed over the decades by Bus Éireann.

The great fear of people around the country is that the enactment of this Bill will allow some operators to cherry pick point to point routes, such as the example I cited earlier. There is scope for that route, but if we end up in a situation where we only have a non-stop service between Dublin and Galway, people along the route in east Galway, the midlands and west Leinster could be left without a service. Therefore, it is important to include a provision in the Bill to ensure we maintain a national bus network. I spoke about the rural transport network earlier. I hope the Minister has campaigned at Cabinet level to retain that service and that it will be saved and we can build on it in the years ahead. The Labour Party wants it because it has seen the worth of the service throughout Ireland.

The national network is the spine of the overall bus transport network and it is very important it is not allowed deteriorate. Whenever we have met representatives from Bus Éireann and people in the private sector who are subcontracted to parts of the Bus Éireann network, we have found that they recognise the network exists, is a fact of life and makes life better for people. Therefore, we should not allow a situation develop whereby the Bill could be badly interpreted by the new transport authority, the incoming chief executive and his board and allow them operate in such a way as to allow the network deteriorate. The network is critical and this should be recognised in the Bill.

With regard to all the infrastructure that pertains to running an efficient and effective bus company, it is important that any provider who comes forward to compete for a route will be able to demonstrate that his or her company will be able to afford such expenditure, most importantly, on up-to-date, modern buses. It is important that significant numbers of people do not end up travelling on clapped out bangers or have to rely on that type of service rather than on the best available up-to-date service. Specifying the provision of a modern bus fleet is important. Bus depots and all the other infrastructure are also critical. Traditionally, our State companies have been involved in the provision of the infrastructure and have sometimes used the Government subvention for that. The maintenance of this infrastructure along the various routes is critical.

We hope that in 2010 we will finally have real time and auto vehicle location, AVL, information available at bus stops so that we will know where each vehicle is, as happens in other areas of the transport industry, and people will have full information about the service available. It is important that all companies offering the services will provide and have access to this kind of infrastructure. They should have good buses, efficient fleets and buses must be accessible. The complaint is often made that accessibility requirements are far higher for public sector transport than private sector where buses are much older and less accessible. The regulations applying to Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann with regard to access for citizens with disability are not followed in the private sector; they are ignored.

Amendments Nos. 18 to 20, inclusive, deal with the issue of sustainability. The key issue here is the need to provide a well functioning, attractive, competitive, integrated and safe public transport system of services and networks for all users. Some of my amendments offer alternatives, but I will press one of them. I want to add the key words "regulated, sustainable, efficient" so as to ensure we finish with a well regulated system. I want it to be a requirement of the new transport authority to run its business in a proper way, unlike the way the Financial Regulator did its business over the past six years. I want to ensure the transport regulator can be relied upon, under its new chief executive and chairman, to develop and carry out in a highly efficient and strictly controlled way the provisions of the Bill. Therefore, I believe we should use the word "regulated".

A similar issue arose with regard to sanctions and fines for operators who, like Citylink, operate services without a licence. Citylink showed a cavalier disregard for the Department of Transport and its officials who refused a licence and went ahead and did what it wanted. It is critical the new regulator has teeth and is seen, even in its broad principle, to be a serious, strict regulator that will ensure we get a level playing pitch and proper conditions for the industry. Therefore, I believe we should include the words "regulated" and "sustainable".

However, the Minister does not seem to know what "sustainable" means. It is hard to describe. In some industries we have seen things that are unsustainable. I put it to the Minister that in the debate in the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport last Wednesday we saw an example of somebody trying to provide a service that was unsustainable. We know it was unsustainable, but it was done to drive fair competition off the roads. We can work out what we mean by sustainability. We mean a service is initiated and a contract is fulfilled to the letter over the years by the contractor, whoever that is, and with regard to older contracts, by an existing State company and any new competitors that come along. Sustainability is an issue that should be addressed in the Bill.

I have also mentioned the word "efficient" in my amendments. Again, there is concern in the transport industry that part of the problem with regard to the old regulator — the Department of Transport — was that it was buried for a long time. The Department disappeared for years in that there was no dedicated Department of Transport, even though most other countries always have a Department of State for Transport. However, we let the Department disappear during several Governments. It was lumped in with various other areas. For example, Deputy O'Rourke was the Minister for a huge Department that included the current Minister's recent Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and the current Department of Transport. That is not the way to operate, particularly when we have some areas which only require a small input from the Civil Service, yet have a full Department of State. It is important, therefore, that we have what I have termed "efficient" regulation. It is quite important. It would mean that people would not be forced to write to me and perhaps to Deputy O'Dowd complaining that they had made an application three years' ago. The attitude of the Department, for whatever reason, was that it wished to get rid of the old regulatory system which was not working and that it had been asking for this Bill for the past five to eight years. However, it is important that this Bill provides efficient regulation. In respect of the addition of the words proposed in amendment No. 20, competitive could be better expressed as "regulated and sustainably competitive". Those amendments would be an improvement over the key provision of this Bill as expressed in this section.

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