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

Lest there be any confusion, it is not Government policy to privatise any of the CIE companies; nor was it proposed to do so by my party in opposition. The issue of allowing more private licences for bus operators is a different one, but is not pertinent at present. It is something to be considered in due course.

I have no difficulty with doing a strategic review, but Deputy Dooley knows as well as I do that such things take many years. What we need to do now is to deal with the public transport system as we find it. We are engaging in reform of rural transport, led by the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly; reform of the taxi sector; capital investment in projects such as the Luas link-up; and investment in integrated ticketing and real time passenger information to improve the quality of public transport.

It is not all about subvention and it is important that people know the facts. Last year Bus Éireann's subvention was €36.882 million. In 2007, at the peak of the boom, when Deputy Dooley's party was in power, the subvention was €36.595 million. The subvention for Bus Éireann last year was higher than it was in 2007 when the economy was at its peak. We must bear in mind that since then the Government has been put under major pressure to reduce spending, and this must happen. There must be a mix of measures, including more efficient services, lower costs and, unfortunately, higher fares and a lower subvention.

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