Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

There are no decisions made on the subvention that will be in place in the next few years. I have some sympathy with what the Deputy is saying about Dublin's subvention being one of the lowest in Europe. The Deloitte report on Dublin Bus showed it was a superbly run organisation. It offers a great service and has delivered for its customers. The Network Direct programme has proven to be very efficient. Noteworthy savings have been made in this regard. Given the economic circumstances, we have no choice but to re-examine this matter.

The percentage of subvention has not been defined but in the next few years other efficiencies will be achieved that I hope will help Dublin Bus. Many will be technology driven. We recently launched various technology tools that will help improve efficiency and increase the customer base. It is a question of doing this and then considering the cuts that will be necessary over the coming years. We are left in an unenviable position so we will have to achieve greater efficiencies. I am in favour of retaining as many services as possible.

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