Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. On the ambitious plans to increase the network across the country, it is pretty shameful for the Minister to describe them as such given that the NTA has actively encouraged private competition and run down Bus Éireann as a company. The Minister's lack of concern about the recent announcement that Bus Éireann will cancel three Expressway routes was astonishing. He does not seem to understand the importance of that decision for the company's future.

We need to look at what the NTA is doing with its neoliberal experiment, as I describe it, under which it is bringing privately operated bus services to 10% of routes in Dublin in the name of competition. The only area that is competitive is the wages and conditions of workers. Everything else, including the routes, the number of buses, fares and timetables are decided by the NTA. It is only the workers' pay and conditions that are subject to competition. This is true also of the Expressway routes being taken over by private companies.

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