Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I echo the earlier comments of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, on the counterproductive leaking of information about Bus Éireann's challenges in recent weeks. We must all remind ourselves that more than 2,500 people are employed in the company. They have been subjected to headline after headline and speculation about their careers. The distress is not helping them in any way and neither are the often wild accusations and speculations of some in the media and repeated, unfortunately, by some of the Members of this House. In addition to the employees are the millions of people across the country, in particular in rural Ireland, who rely on Bus Éireann as their public transport operator. They have been subjected to speculation about potential route closures and service changes, a great deal of which is utterly unfounded and irrelevant. For example, there have been media reports about the future of bus services in areas which are not even served by Expressway but instead by Bus Éireann's PSO services. Similar were stories of potential changes to the free travel scheme when there are no such proposals.

I would like to think Members would have an informed debate in the Chamber and, amidst their disagreements, at least clarify factual positions. Before us is a motion proposed by Fianna Fáil, as well as amendments proposed by the Labour Party, the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit, Sinn Féin and a counter-motion proposed by the Government. There is much agreement across the proposals. Everyone agrees about the importance of a quality, funded public transport network. We all agree it is necessary to review the funding model for the free travel scheme and, albeit in different words, we agree on the need for the National Transport Authority, NTA, to consider issues affecting rural Ireland when considering commercial bus licence applications. Again in slightly different words, all agree the NTA must have the necessary powers under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009 to ensure commercial bus services play their part in our overall public transport network.

I agree with Deputy Anne Rabbitte that in the capital city of Dublin we are spoiled for choice. We are spoiled for choice because we have the infrastructure. That infrastructure needs to be shared with the rest of the country. I agree with Deputy Eamon Ryan, who has left the Chamber, about thinking outside the box. As politicians, we sometimes have very narrow minds and we need to respond when people suggest things from outside the box. We must take on board what they are saying and try to do something with it rather than just ignore it and pretend it is not there.

However, there is one significant area of difference. The Opposition motion calls on the Government to ensure no change to Expressway services and that an Act is proposed. It is something I think instinctively appeals to a lot of people in the House this evening. However, it imagines the Government can simply direct a company's board of directors and management to continue to provide a loss-making service. Nobody wants any company to make losses. It is important that every company, public or private, continues to work against losses it may incur. It invites us to believe the Government can wave away the legal duties of the directors and instruct the company to act in any way the Government sees fit. That is not possible. We all know that. The Opposition motion seeks to create a scenario where the Government can support and fund one commercial bus service to the disadvantage of another commercial operator. However, none of that is credible.

The Government is clear that when there is an industrial relations dispute, we must support the industrial relations bodies, including the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission. They are long established and well practised at handling these difficulties and the discussions that must take place between management and employees in Bus Éireann. The need for clear roles is also relevant to the proposed amendments tabled by Labour and the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit. Those amendments call on the Government to impose a sectoral employment order in the commercial bus market. However, the existing legislation already allows for a sectoral employment order to be put in place following an application by a trade union or employer in the Labour Court and provides for the making of a recommendation by the court to the relevant Minister. As such, a mechanism is in place that should be used.

The Government is equally clear that it cannot fund one commercial service over all other commercial buses. To be fair, Fianna Fáil seems to recognise that fact in the text of its motion.

We all need to be clear about the real issue behind the current challenges facing Bus Éireann and the options available to resolve them. We heard different views expressed as to what those issues are. We all recognise the importance of Bus Éireann and acknowledge its role across its three services, namely, the PSO, school and Expressway services. The vast majority of journeys, around 90% of all passengers, occur on PSO and school services. The taxpayer funds these services each year - around €190 million was granted last year, split between PSO and school services.

Around 10% of passenger journeys occur on Expressway services. This network route involves the commercial bus sector, a sector subject to regulations by the NTA and one in which other operators also provide services, subject to licence from the NTA. We should not forget the other commercial bus operators, which hail from all four corners of rural Ireland. They are often small, family-owned companies based in rural towns and villages which provide local employment opportunities as well as improving public transport connectivity.

The reform introduced a number of years ago to facilitate commercial bus markets helped to increase passenger numbers and allowed for more people to avail of public transport services, competitive fares and improve service levels. We should not be too quick to dismiss this.

In some ways, the challenges facing Bus Éireann are relatively straightforward. People are choosing other operators over Expressway. Expressway's losses have now become a company-wide problem and action needs to be taken by the company to address that fact. It can only do that in consultation with its employees. I echo the call of the Minister for both parties to begin discussions as soon as possible.

I am afraid that is the difficult truth behind the situation and the company must adjust the losses it is suffering in its commercial service. It is not an issue of underfunding of PSO or school services. Rather, this is a problem faced by Bus Éireann commercial services, and is a problem it must help to resolve. Fianna Fáil's motion recognises that subsidies from the Government could run into legal challenges.

The Government, through institutions such as the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission, can assist in bringing the parties together, but we need them to indicate their willingness to agree. The Government, through the NTA, can ensure rural Ireland's transport connectivity will be maintained in the event of any service configuration. The Government, through its interdepartmental discussions, can examine adequate funding of the free travel scheme. The Government can assure everyone of its commitment to our publicly funded public service networks. This is evidenced this year by an 11% increase in the PSO programme. The Government cannot direct companies to continue to lose money in a commercial environment. The reality is that the Government cannot change the legal responsibilities of directors.

People throughout the country should have proper services. Those of us who live in the capital and larger cities across the country are sometimes blind to the fact that people in rural Ireland are at a significant disadvantage. In my new position, I have frequently travelled on motorways, something I did not do before. I am astounded by the level of motorways across the country. The European Union provided most of the funding for them.

I am very proud to see the work that has been done in the country when I travel on a motorway. They have connected towns and given people the freedom to move from one area to another. Journeys that would have taken five or six hours have been halved. I wish to pay that compliment because it is very important to do so. We are always knocking each other in the House and there is a sense of negativity. It is time to get rid of the negativity and work together as a Chamber rather than as individual groups.

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