Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

There are so many contradictions that it is hard to know where to start. If Dublin Bus is so great and everything is going so well, why in God's name is the Government breaking it up and undermining it? If the Labour Party believes in a public transport system, why did it stay in Government for four years and stand over a falling subvention for bus services every year up to 2014? The subvention has been cut for the past seven years, four of them on the Labour Party's watch. Why does the Minister's party stand over the crazy situation of reducing the subvention instead of increasing it thereby taking people out of their cars in order to address issues like climate change? Instead, this Government has continued the obscenity of spending €50 million annually to fund the west-link toll bridge company, NTR, not to mention the millions spent on PPPs for roads that are not being used sufficiently. Why is that money not invested in public transport?

The Minister has said that the bus drivers do not need to worry because they will not be transferring but let us look at that commitment, even though nobody believes any commitments this Government makes any more. The Minister expects us to believe that the company is going to carry an extra 10% of workers but at the end of 2019, that will be used against it to argue that the company is uncompetitive. It will be used as a justification for further privatisation, as history has already taught us.

I know that the Minister is familiar with the writings of James Connolly and he will probably attend the memorial service at his grave next week. No doubt Connolly will be doing some turning in that grave when the Labour Party shows up. That aside, Connolly said that "governments in capitalist societies are but committees of the rich to manage the affairs of the capitalist class". I believe he was right and that is exactly what the Labour Party is doing. Why does it not just fold up the red flag and join the boys in blue behind it?

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