Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “a vibrant capital city” and substitute the following:further notes that:

— despite decades of underinvestment in public bus and rail services by successive Governments, and despite the workers of Bus Átha Cliath (Dublin Bus) achieving every arduous target set for them during the economic collapse, this partnership Government and the National Transport Authority (NTA) have continued with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s decision as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in 2013, to gradually privatise public transport services, including Bus Átha Cliath routes;

— this privatisation (sale of a public service to a private company in full or in parts) was first endorsed by Fianna Fáil ministers for transport prior to 2013, was pursued despite evidence in other jurisdictions that privatisation of bus services results in a drop in usage, consumer confidence and consumer satisfaction and ignores the public service obligation of public transport, as profit-making multi-nationals are not concerned with public service;

— a more sustainable plan would have been, and should be, to adequately fund all State-run public transport in order to ensure a first-class service in our cities and towns, run by existing semi-State companies; and

— this privatisation ideology clearly influenced the BusConnects proposals which the NTA published as a public consultative document and which blatantly ignored the varying needs of local communities; and

agrees that after the conclusion of the NTA’s public consultation process on BusConnects, revised plans should come before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport for further scrutiny, that meetings of the Committee shall take place where interest groups and community groups may be able to make submissions, both written and orally, and that the plan will not proceed should the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport decide, by vote, that it does not meet the needs of local communities.

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