Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:recognises that:

- Bus Éireann is in serious financial difficulty;

- Bus Éireann has stated the company’s finances are in a "perilous state" and that this could lead to job losses unless restructuring proposals are accepted;

- a major contributor to the falling revenues has been the commercial services which have struggled to compete with new market entrants in recent years;

- the company cannot continue to operate in its current loss-making position which is depleting its reserves and that without action the company could face imminent liquidity and solvency issues; and

- any subsidisation of losses of the commercial operations of Bus Éireann which competes with private enterprises would likely encounter European Union competition and state aid issues;

acknowledges:

- that an analysis commissioned by the company identifies the commercial Expressway services as the source of significant losses and recommends consideration of the reconfiguration of certain Expressway services;

- the fact that this is being considered as a potential option is creating some uncertainty and fear; and

- the need for the company and trade unions to negotiate on changes to prevent the possibility of industrial action in a company that provides important public transport services; and

calls on the Government to:

- commit, while taking cognisance of the overall budgetary parameters, to the importance of an adequately funded public service obligation, PSO, transport network;

- review the adequacy of current funding levels associated with the free travel scheme, as well as examining whether additional routes should be added to the PSO contract;

- request that the National Transport Authority, NTA, continue to exercise its statutory powers to ensure that PSO services are adequate to serve the needs of rural Ireland, in the event that there are changes to Expressway services in the future; and

- bring forward amendments to the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, taking account of the review of such legislation by the NTA and necessary improvements to strengthen public transport services to the consumer.

I thank Deputy Robert Troy for proposing the motion and everyone else who has contributed to the debate on it. It is the right motion at the right time. While I share the sentiments of nearly everyone who has spoken and agree with a great deal of what they have said, Deputy Robert Troy and I do not appear to share the road towards a solution. That is what politics is about.

There are elements of the Fianna Fáil motion with which the Government could agree and which it could support. The Government is committed to having a well funded public transport system. That is why we increased by 11% the amount of money available in PSO funding. I have publicly acknowledged the need to examine the adequacy of the funding provided for the free travel scheme. It is right that we examine whether funding levels which have effectively been frozen at 2010 levels are adequate today. I will be working with my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, on that matter.

Let the message go out in response to what has been said in this debate that rural Ireland is a top priority for the Government.

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