Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Transport his views on Bus Éireann's cost-cutting plans; if he has had discussions with Córas Iompair Éireann, CIE, regarding further cuts within the company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6528/10]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Transport the 2010 public service obligation allocation for Bus Éireann; the position regarding the recommendations by a company (details supplied) on Bus Éireann; if he has been briefed by Bus Éireann management on plans to axe and reduce service frequency on as many as 100 key Bus Éireann routes and to cut 250 jobs at the company; his views on the impact of these cuts on rural communities and vulnerable persons who rely on local public transport services; if the programme of cutbacks to Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann fleets and services signals the end of the key objective under Transport 21 to increase bus transport capacity by 60%; the way transport capital spending will transfer to enhancing public transport from early 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6407/10]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for Transport if he has met with Bus Éireann officials regarding the proposed redundancies and route curtailments. [6486/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to answer Questions Nos. 78, 86 and 119 together.

I have been briefed on the deterioration in Bus Éireann's financial position due to declining demand, revenue and increased costs, and on the measures necessary to maintain its financial viability. In recent years, Bus Éireann significantly expanded its network of services across the country. However, the economic downturn has seen a marked drop in demand for public transport.

This has resulted in Bus Éireann customer numbers falling by over 10% in 2009, which has impacted negatively on the company's revenues. It means it can no longer afford to operate the same high level of services as it has previously. In response to falling passenger numbers and revenue, Bus Éireann is implementing a wide-ranging cost recovery plan to ensure the financial viability of the company and the maintenance of services to the maximum extent possible.

The cost recovery plan involves cost reduction and efficiency measures, a wage freeze, changes to work practices and to the terms and conditions of employment, a reduction in staff numbers of approximately 250 and changes to services. Overall, Bus Éireann is seeking savings of €12 million in 2010.

It is a matter for Bus Éireann, with the agreement of the National Transport Authority in the case of subvented services, to decide on service levels and changes to services taking account of customer volumes and needs, fare revenue and the funding available for public service obligation services. Bus Éireann is seeking to keep as much of its integrated network of services as possible and to minimise the impact on customers, including its most vulnerable customers, by targeting reductions in frequency of services rather than service withdrawal.

Bus Éireann's cost recovery plan is urgently required so the company can avoid a projected operating deficit in 2010 of up to €27 million. The cost recovery plan being implemented is in line with the recommendation of the Deloitte report on the cost and efficiency review of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. The report acknowledged, in the case of Bus Éireann, that its network design and schedules are efficient and that some service reductions would be required to return the company to financial stability.

Bus Éireann is strongly supported by the Government. The 2010 public service obligation provision for Bus Éireann is approximately €45 million which the company will receive through the National Transport Authority. This provision is an increase of 185% on its 2000 allocation.

Investment in public transport in 2011 and beyond will be decided in the Estimates and budgetary processes, taking account of the review of capital expenditure being finalised by the Department of Finance. However, in the current difficult economic climate Bus Éireann, and the other CIÉ companies, have to take measures to deliver their services more cost effectively and to ensure their continued financial viability. These measures combined with investment in public transport infrastructure and services will provide a basis for a high quality and economically sustainable public transport system envisaged in the smarter travel action plan.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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While I welcome that reply, and I acknowledge that Bus Éireann does an excellent job, which the independent audit of its work found and praised the company for, nevertheless, would the Minister agree that there are needs for change within the company? One of the elements Bus Éireann needs to change is where there is only a small number of people, say less than ten, travelling on certain routes, that the company should change the vehicle and opt for smaller vehicles. I acknowledge that Bus Éireann co-operates and works with private contractors specifically, but it should extend and accelerate that process.

At the heart of Bus Éireann, however, is still the issue that it wants to dominate the market and where it basically has a monopoly, it is crucifying commuters. Specifically, I ask the Minister to comment on the fact that Bus Éireann runs buses from Dundalk to Dublin and Dundalk to Belfast, where the distance is 52 km either way but the annual ticket is €1,800 more expensive to go north than to go south for the same distance and the same bus. That is not acceptable. Bus Éireann is abusing a dominant position in the marketplace.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The specifics the Deputy raises are an operational matter for Bus Éireann. There is competition on that route and I am sure if Bus Éireann is not the most-----

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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They are the same price, that is the problem. It is not real competition.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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There is a reason they are the same price. However, it is an operational matter for Bus Éireann and I do not want to get involved in the company's day to day operation.

I accept and acknowledge what the Deputy stated about Bus Éireann generally, that the company is an efficient organisation. Bus Éireann has modernised successfully over the past number of years. The passengers are not there anymore for a variety of reasons and the company must cut its cloth to suit its measure. As the Deputy stated, I acknowledge that instead of taking action that may damage the company's network, the approach it has adopted generally of reducing services on particular routes rather than abandoning routes leaves the skeleton there for some time in the future. I acknowledge the role of management and, indeed, unions in reaching an agreement to approach it in that way. That is putting the customer first and it should be acknowledged.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Would the Minister agree again that the Deloitte report on Bus Éireann stated that there was little scope for savings and that the company was largely efficient, after a rigorous examination? The Minister also agreed with me that the subsidy given to Bus Éireann is among the lowest in Europe for a regional public transport company. One can look to a range of jurisdictions, such as the Netherlands, Germany and France, and the 12% or 13% that Bus Éireann gets is among the lowest.

The Minister and his Green Party colleagues - it is shameful of the Green Party in Government - have slashed the national bus service. There is a plethora of such important routes: No. 122, Portumna to Dublin; No. 71, Cork to Athlone; No. 231, Ballyvourney to Cork; and No. 271, Tralee to Cork. There has been a further major cutback on routes such as No. 14, Limerick to Killarney; No. 40, Cork to Tralee; No. 52, Galway to Ballina; the Dungarvan local service; the Navan town service which is the Minister's service; and the Athlone town service. It is a shocking litany of slashing a service.

I repeat I do not agree with the approach of Fine Gael on this matter. The bus licensing Act is there for anybody who wants to put forward proposals to the National Transport Authority, but I do not agree with this constant, ferocious, visceral attack on public transport because that would end up with vast areas of the country having no public transport as private operators cherry-pick.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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A question, Deputy.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I received many letters from around the country of people who are so upset by this. In one, from Lifford in Donegal, a constituent writes that she and her daughter with Down's syndrome used the Stranorlar bus every week to get to Raphoe where they got a connecting bus to Letterkenny to meet with speech therapists and other appointments about her daughter's health. She does not drive and now has no access to transport at all.

That is what we have ended up with due to the Minister's action. Do not land this on to the Bus Éireann management. It is the Minister who cut the subsidy in real terms, who slashed the national bus services and who must bear responsibility.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Go raibh maith agat.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Fine Gael is no help to the Minister on this because if that party was in power, we would have no national bus service.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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An tAire.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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The Minister is responsible. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, and the disgraceful Green Party are equally responsible. They are hypocrites.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Broughan quoted again the statistics on subsidies. He neglects to mention the capital subsidy that was available for the renewal of the fleet of Bus Éireann over many years which was significantly higher than he would like to acknowledge.

In the world in which we live now with the new EU directive and everything else, a public transport company must operate in a commercial environment. In the current financial situation it will not be easy to maintain services.

Deputy Broughan mentioned a number of services. On the Donegal one, for example, notwithstanding the difficulties he outlined for the individual concerned, the average load on that was less than 11. The average load on the Ballyvourney to Cork service he spoke about was less than nine. The average load on the Portumna service he mentioned was less than three passengers a day. I do not care what kind of a system he wants to put in place, but he cannot expect that a full-scale transport service can be run on these routes at the same frequency for an average of three passengers a day. It is not reasonable.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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That is just one example.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I will give details of the rest of them if the Deputy wants.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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There are hundreds.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I am just giving him the details. These are the passenger figures.

Deputy Broughan is not doing a service to Bus Éireann or its employees if he will tell them that the company must run buses on these kind of routes and, perhaps, not be able to run a bus where there is some kind of a reasonable demand for it.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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As I was pointing out earlier, the company need not run the standard-sized bus. It can use smaller transport. It can use private companies.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Which it does.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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That is where the thinking must go.

The other point is that perhaps we should be looking afresh at where people live in remote areas. If An Post has its collection path for mail from many disparate and small local communities, why is the An Post vehicle not licensed to carry passengers as well? That would make a deal of sense and there would be a fixed definite timetable at least twice a day on which people could travel.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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In fairness, Bus Éireann, as Deputy O'Dowd acknowledge earlier, uses private companies. It has been much better at using private companies and sub-contracting. I agree with the Deputy that the company should do more, either through sub-contracting or through the company's own system, to use smaller buses and vehicles.

On Deputy O'Dowd's point about An Post, he will be aware that the Department has put in place a number of rural transport pilot schemes where Bus Éireann is involved. I take up the point he made on An Post's end of that because we have been mainly focussed on the HSE and health services. It is something I will raise in the context of that review of rural transport.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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The Minister read out the reports of the number of passengers on different routes. Did he know about the 100 routes before Bus Éireann put any proposals to its workforce and did he make any recommendations to Bus Éireann as to how it should try to maintain a national bus network?

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I was aware in general terms that Bus Éireann was putting a plan, which would involve a lessening of services on particular routes, before the specifics were put to the union. I was not aware of the specifics until it came into the public domain. I understand it was put in the public domain by somebody from the union side when the document was put to the union as part of the negotiations.