Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, but he is missing the point. He suggests that if consumers purchase Leap cards they will make savings. If all consumers were to do so, the CIE group of companies would have a bigger financial difficulty. The price increase is necessitated by the 7.4% decrease in the Government subvention under the public service obligation subvention to the companies this year. In addition to the increase in the cost of fuel, this is placing a significant burden on the group of companies providing the service. The Minister and the Government must decide what kind of public transport network they want in this country. They must decide whether they intend to fund it from the central Exchequer in a manner that meets the needs and expectations of the consumers. It seems that much of what the Minister hints at as a solution is that he expects the group of companies to reduce the service and cut costs to the point at which the service that is delivered will not meet the needs of consumers. Ultimately, this will force people away from public transport.

A huge effort has been made over recent decades to bring the level of service to the point at which a modal shift takes place. People left their cars and moved towards public transport. The Minister is dismantling this step by step.

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