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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: We will now resume in public session to discuss the question of what it takes to sustain viable rural communities with representatives from Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and the National Transport Authority, NTA. Míle buíochas as teacht isteach inniú. Tá fáilte mór romhaibh. I welcome Mr. Ray Hernan, acting chief executive officer and Mr. Stephen...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: I would ask Mr. Hernan to focus on the topics that he was invited in to discuss, and when discussing a third party, such as the unions, that he desist from that type of conversation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: I thank Mr. Hernan. I now call on Iarnród Éireann to make its presentation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: I would be open to doing that. We will proceed then. Each individual has five has minutes to question each group, as there are three groups. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: The Deputy had three minutes and he has two minutes remaining.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: Mr. Hernan mentioned that we have a very geographically dispersed population but 50% of the population resides in about three counties. In certain ways we have a very skewed population dispersal, more so than Britain would have. It would have a far more balanced dispersal than we would have. We as elected representatives are hearing reports of there being a dearth of services in many...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: There is an uneven competition level to a certain extent between the participants.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: In other words, on a resource basis, it is uneven.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: Also, Bus Éireann's private competitors on the Expressway routes do not stop in all the towns. For example, many of them will provide a service from Galway to Dublin but they will not stop in Kinnegad, Enfield or Moate on the way down. That is a competitive disadvantage for Bus Éireann in terms of numbers and revenue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: Obviously they do it for commercial purposes. They must estimate that the volume of passengers is reduced by having a policy of stopping at every town.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: I asked that question because we are hearing about the need for Expressway to operate without public subvention, yet we understand now that there is not exactly even competition between private and public operators on those routes. Bus Éireann gets 41% of its travel pass cost. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: How much revenue would it get if it received 100% of that cost, that is, if the State paid for those journeys?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: It would be worth €15 million extra.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: That is interesting. Does Mr. Hernan know what Bus Éireann's PSO per passenger metric is?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: The amount is €1 per person per journey. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: How does that compare with the amounts for the European counterparts of Bus Éireann?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: Would Mr. Hernan be able to collect the information and send it to us? It would enable us to benchmark Ireland against its European competitors and other countries and help us to know where we are. How does the amount compare with that for other forms of transport?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: It would be interesting to find out the comparable amount. I do not wish to get too local, but I believe the service from Navan has the highest per mile cost per ticket in the commuter belt area. We have heard today about the number of electric cars sold in January and the serious penalties to which the State will be subject if we do not meet our targets in decarbonising the transport...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: Go raibh maith agat.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Peadar Tóibín: Glaoim ar ionadaithe Iarnród Éireann a gcur i láthair a dhéanamh.