Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Six days ago, we learned that a consultancy firm had recommended to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport that Bus Éireann's Expressway operations be shut down. We know the report recommends the axing of more than 500 jobs and the closure of ten bus depots. However, there is much that we do not know. For example, we do not know which bus depots Grant Thornton recommends shutting. Does the hit list include Tralee, Wexford, Ennis, Clonmel or Ballina? Does it include Sligo, Cavan, Letterkenny, Athlone or Waterford?

I am challenging the Taoiseach to put this information before the House and to say that he will publish the report. It is no secret that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, thinks himself rather good at his job. I sometimes think Otto the bus driver from "The Simpsons" would have more of a clue. The Minister was very alert to the rights of rural communities when he issued a call to arms to save the Stepaside Garda station. Why does he not show the same concern when rural communities outside of his constituency face abandonment by his Department? The unions have requested a meeting with the Department, the National Transport Authority, NTA, and Bus Éireann to tackle this crisis. Why does the Minister continue to ignore such a reasonable request?

Has the Minister made the Taoiseach aware of the reports from credible sources of a private operator, licensed for significant routes, paying drivers cash-in-hand, a practice which is against the law of the land. If he has not, why not? Does he even know? Other operators pay the minimum wage, a little above the minimum wage and in all other cases below Bus Éireann trade union rates. There should be a threshold of decency. They should be required to pay the Bus Éireann rates. Why does the Government not enforce minimum standards of this type? Is it the game plan of the Cabinet to leave the highly lucrative intercity routes to be run by private operators while the State operates run-down services on other non-profitable routes?

The Government has bailed out the banks to the tune of scores of billions but it refuses to bail out Bus Éireann to the tune of even a few million. The State invests in health and education but it refuses to invest seriously in public transport. This Government has three options. First, it can shut down Expressway immediately. Second, it can shut down Expressway slowly - death by a thousand cuts - by hammering the services or the workers, or a combination of both. The Government should be aware that it will meet serious resistance should it choose any of these options. The third option, which is the option that would be chosen by a left government, recognising that this is a country consistently ranked among the 20 wealthiest countries in the world and that it deserves a word class public transport service, the Government should invest seriously in public transport. Does the Taoiseach accept that the time has come for Government to choose the third option?

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