Results 9,701-9,720 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: I admire Deputy Fitzpatrick's passion. I share that passion in many ways, particularly in light of the difficulties in which people find themselves. I am not sure about the public perception. I do not know what the public perception is on whether I should get involved. I do not how public sentiment is running in respect of this matter. I know that I must make the right decision...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: I did not say the licensing is flawed. I do not know where the Senator got that idea. Perhaps he has misinterpreted what I said. Maybe I misread my statement but I do not think so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: I did not say the licensing is flawed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: Sorry. I thought the Senator said that I had said it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: I do not believe that the licensing system is flawed. I am of the view that we have a competitive and expanding market as a result of the licensing system. The public has responded to the market because they are quickly flocking to public transport, perhaps not in quite the numbers that we would like. Therefore, we have had to lay on more buses, both private and PSO. I do not think the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: I will come back on the quotation that the Deputy gave because I would like to nail it. "Transport is a doddle" was a light-hearted remark I made on "The Late Late Show" when they were asking me about sport and I was in the height of trouble about some sporting problem at the time - I think it was the Olympics - and I was coming under fire and it was very difficult. They asked me about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: Transport has certainly trumped sport but it was a throw-away remark and that was a fair question. On the issue of how policy will influence Government and the issue of subventions, I am happy to talk in a constructive way to all the parties involved after this is over, but not beforehand. I have increased subventions in the past year and they were increased the year before. They did fall...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: That is Government policy. We want to give more money to these transport companies, but it does not have any direct bearing on the present dispute.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: To answer the last question first about company's losses, the last audited accounts available are for 2015. They show a loss of €6 million. The company's representatives appeared before this committee and stated that the losses for 2016 are in the order of €8 to €9 million. As the Deputy will know, audited accounts for 2016 are not yet available for reasons he will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: The most up-to-date figure is the €8 to €9 million. That is obviously moving because the accounts are not audited. Do not expect me to make a definite decision about what the figure is until the accounts are audited. The most up-to-date figure is the figure the Deputy has received. Audited accounts are not available for 2016.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: There is absolutely no agenda on my part to push down wages specifically for any reason at all. What I do recognise, and what everybody recognises within unions and management, is that there are inefficiencies in the company. There are work practices. There have been cuts in other areas which were necessary.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: There is absolutely no agenda by my Department to bring down wages for any kind of ideological reasons, if that is what the Deputy is suggesting. The company's losses have not yet been audited. Do not ask me questions about the detail of the losses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: Of course, but I do not know yet what the audited figures are going to say, nor does Deputy Troy and nor does anyone else.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: I am not going to throw out figures here over which I cannot stand. I do not have the luxury of being able to do that. I am not going to say anything about the 2016 accounts in that sort of detail until they are audited.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: As the Deputy knows, those particular issues and those figures have been moving on a weekly basis, so let us see the audited accounts before we decide what the losses actually are.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: I think the particular document to which Deputy Troy refers is a document which had proposals, not a plan. That is what that was about.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: The Deputy is absolutely correct. After that was produced, we got a series of plans during that year and we got a series of proposals. The Deputy referred to 24 September 2016. The board of the company then commissioned independent consultants, Grant Thornton, to consider the options open to it. I think we have been over this territory many times before. It was not a plan. What Grant...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: -----of the options which were open to the company.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: It was not a plan as such.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Shane Ross: I have received proposals and I have seen proposals. There is a plan at the moment, as the Deputy will probably be aware, which is being finalised at the moment.