Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

It is a benefit that the Labour Party is in Government and that a Labour Party Minister of State has responsibility for public transport. We are fully committed to public transport and maintaining public services. This is the bedrock of what the Labour Party stands for and I hope the Deputy appreciates that.

With regard to Dublin Bus, as I have said previously, we are looking for efficiencies and because of this there will be an issue with the PSO over the next few years. That said, we will try to maintain services as much as possible. No doubt there will be issues, but there are some good news stories. There is good news with regard to technology, passenger numbers and interconnections with services like the DART. These good news stories will help push up passenger numbers and ensure the change in the level of subvention that must take place in the next few years will be minimised. The problem is we are facing a difficult position.

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