Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is clear the Minister may not see a problem but certainly Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann workers and the unions see a problem coming down the road. They believe that this is a drive to privatisation. I, too, believe it is a drive to privatisation. This is at a time when the number of people using the services of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann has increased substantially and now we are starting to off load 10% of our routes. There are big issues to be considered. I disagree with the Minister's two options because a private company will decide who it will employ and who it will not employ. It will not be a case of having option one and option two on the table; the private companies will make up their minds and they will cherry-pick all the routes. There is absolutely no doubt that they will cherry-pick the profitable routes. There have been cutbacks in the Dublin Bus routes in recent years and there has been a significant drop in Government funding since the Minister came into Government, with a decrease of 23% and 24%, respectively, in funding for the two companies.

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