Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Half of the funding provided under the Government's stimulus plan announced last year is being allocated to transport, albeit not to public transport for various reasons.

Deputy Joan Collins stated the trade unions had co-operated to a point with the necessary changes and reforms in the CIE companies, which is true. She pointed out that she had been in contact with the trade unions before proceeding to read out a statement based largely on what union representatives told her. I wonder how different her statement would have been if she had spoken to taxpayers and passengers to gauge their views on the matter. My job as Minister is to look out for taxpayers and passengers while having regard to the workers. It is a little disappointing for a Deputy to speak, as it were, on behalf of the staff rather than those who use the services. I am aware that Deputy Collins is a strong supporter of improving our labour laws and having a quasi-judicial system of dispute resolution. For this reason, I would be interested in hearing her view on whether Bus Éireann trade unions made a correct decision in refusing to go before the Labour Court.

The Deputy also indicated that the problems in CIE are caused by cuts in the subvention, which is not entirely true. As I noted, the subvention provided to CIE in 2012 was the fifth highest in the history of the State. This was the company's fifth best year ever in terms of money it received from the Government. I wonder how many individuals or groups could say the same about this year. CIE has done very well from subvention and while I accept it is lower here than in other European countries, it should be noted that other countries have much more extensive transport systems. We do not have electrified railways between our cities or underground rail systems. Moreover, in calculating subvention figures, it is important to bear in mind that subvention is paid in two forms here, namely, through the public service obligation grants for services and capital grants. When trade unions and other interest groups are making comparisons they often count the PSO grants and omit capital grants, whereas in most countries only one form of subvention is paid. It is important to compare like with like.

Deputy Catherine Murphy made some good points on land use and transport. She noted correctly, for example, that land was developed in the past on the basis of who owned it, rather than whether it was appropriate to develop it. We have major problems with settlement patterns. Our settlements are too spread out, there are too many of them and they are not sufficiently dense near cities. In Dublin and other cities, railway lines frequently run through fields, while lands a significant distance from the lines were somehow rezoned and developed. Major mistakes have been made in this regard and it is much more difficult and expensive to provide hospitals and public transport services in the right places because people live in the wrong places as a result of poor planning over the years. This is an enormously expensive legacy that we will have to bear for generations unfortunately. It is also one of the issues that caused me to enter politics when I became a Fingal county councillor and one about which I still feel very strongly.

Deputy Murphy also expressed strong support for the rail interconnector project, which I also support. It is proposed to proceed with the project as a public private partnership project. However, in recent years, we have been unable to get many public private partnerships off the ground. We will re-examine the matter in 2015 to ascertain whether we can get the PPP market for transport moving again. If European leaders can agree a budget, I hope we will be able to secure some funding for the project through the Connecting Europe facility under TEN-T.

The Luas BXD project is an interconnector of sorts, linking up at St. Stephen's Green with the Luas line running south from St. Stephen's Green to the Tallaght, CityWest and Docklands Luas line. From there, it will travel through the north inner city and past the new DIT campus in Grangegorman to Broombridge, where it will link up with the Connolly to Maynooth line. The Luas BXD does not link up the two Luas lines for the sake of it but will serve as an interconnector. For example, it will enable a constituent of Deputy Murphy to board a train in Leixlip, change at Broombridge and travel directly to Dundrum. It is currently extremely difficult to complete this journey by public transport as one would probably have to take two or three buses and it would take a long time. Once the new line has been completed, people will be able to make a seamless change from the train to the Luas. I could provide many similar examples.

The rail interconnector, which is an underground project, is different again and would benefit the entire country. For example, it would allow the DART to be extended as far as Balbriggan to the north, Greystones to the south and into my constituency as far as Dunboyne and Maynooth and perhaps further to Navan. I would like the project to proceed but it will be some time before that occurs.

While it is planned to increase fares on public transport every December, we will try to keep the increases to a minimum. This will depend on other factors such as subvention and cost savings elsewhere in CIE.

The story of privatisation of the railways in Britain is interesting because although it was initially a disaster, more people are using the railways in Britain now that at any time since the war. It has been a success, therefore, in terms of the numbers using rail. Moreover, the subvention per passenger kilometre is now lower than it was in the past. Following the initial disaster, therefore, privatisation has been a success.

The position in respect of buses in Britain was entirely different.

Outside of London, bus services were deregulated and privatised entirely. It was a disaster and bus services collapsed. What was done inside London was different, though. In London, bus services are still subvented. Indeed, the subventions are high, but various companies tender for them. As a result, there is good value for money.

Deputy Lawlor mentioned last night's tragedy on Dawson Street in which a man lost his life. I wish to extend my sympathy to his family and to the bus driver involved. It must have been traumatic and shocking for him. I was caught in the gridlock. I will speak to the Garda and various authorities about how such an incident can be managed better in future and what was done with the real-time passenger information, RTPI, signs.

Deputy Mattie McGrath mentioned a number of matters, that of the fuel rebate for hauliers in particular. It was hard fought for and well won by the Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA. The association went about it the right way, made its case well, used independent analysts to support its case and campaigned strongly for the rebate. I wish to acknowledge the work of Deputies Heather Humphreys and Áine Collins in assisting the IRHA and me in getting the issue of the rebate across the line. It will work. It will reduce fuel tourism out of Ireland and encourage it into Ireland, which is a positive. It will also ensure greater compliance in the sector, as only tax compliant and fully licensed operators will be eligible for it, which is an important element.

I was asked whether the rebate will extend to buses. I still need clarity on this matter, as much of it relates to European regulations in this space. The cost of including buses in the rebate is small and would be covered in the Estimate in Wednesday's budget.

I thank Members for their understanding of and support for the Bill.

See this speech in context