Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the role and powers of the National Transport Authority to deal with applications from companies that want to reduce their bus services through various areas throughout the country. I am raising this matter because of a recent letter I received from the chief executive of the National Transport Authority concerning services by Bus Éireann and Kavanagh's Buses through several midland counties. One sentence in the letter is most disturbing. It states: "Where operators apply to withdraw or curtail services the authority will grant such amendments as it has no legislative powers to refuse them." What is the purpose of having a regulator or authority if it has no powers to deal with issues that affect paying customers?

The letter also stated that Bus Éireann provides commercial route 7 between Cork and Dublin via Clonmel and Kilkenny. The service is licensed by the National Transport Authority. The authority recently granted an amendment to this licence which incorporated essentially going on the motorway in a more direct manner to Dublin Airport and the withdrawal of all services south of Clonmel. There has also been a withdrawal of all services provided to a number of intermediate locations, including Kilsheelan, Carrick-on-Suir, Paulstown, Muine Bheag, Royal Oak cross, Leighlinbridge, Carlow Institute of Technology, Carlow town, Castlecomer, Crettyard, Newtown, Ballylinan, which are in County Laois, Athy, Kilcullen and Naas.

According to the National Transport Authority, J.J. Kavanagh provides commercial route 717 on the same route. The service is also licensed by the authority. The authority has recently made an offer of an amendment to the withdrawal of this licence, which incorporates the introduction of faster routes along the motorway and a withdrawal of services being provided to Castlecomer, Ballylinan, KiIcullen and Naas.

It is an outright disgrace that all the authority does is rubber-stamp an application. Why bother having a transport authority if bus operators can do what they like in these situations? No public consultation is allowed by law. It is a hidden process and customers only know about changes when a notice is posted on the local bus stating that it will not be there next week.

These operators provide a service to carry people to work in all those towns, as well as to attend hospital and medical appointments and for shopping. The bus services also take pupils to school and students to Carlow IT. My colleague, Deputy John McGuinness, has attended many meetings on this issue in the Kilkenny and Castlecomer area, while Deputy Ó Fearghaíl, has attended similar meetings in Kildare.

This is a major issue and it is not the first time these bus operators have acted thus. Kavanagh's has already been allowed by the National Transport Authority to abandon people in Castledermot, Crookstown and Ballitore in County Kildare, all in order to get to the airport quicker from some other location. In addition, the National Transport Authority approved the entire abandonment by Bus Éireann of Abbeyleix, Durrow and Cullahill on the Dublin-Cork route last year, and more recently the abandonment of Mountrath, Castletown and Boris-in-Ossory in County Laois on the Dublin-Limerick route, all in order to go on the motorway.

I wrote to the chief executive of Bus Éireann and have also spoken to him about this matter. I have also contacted the National Roads Authority. There are six routes in each direction by Bus Éireann daily, while Kavanagh's has five buses in each direction in those areas. I have suggested that if some people want to travel more quickly by motorway, three or four buses could do so. However, the operators should not abandon the 12 buses that are passing through those towns and villages daily. They could have agreed to leave a proportion of them.

It should be remembered that they receive a public service obligation contribution from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. I will raise that matter in my supplementary question. They should not continue to get that PSO payment for a reduction in services.

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