Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

Some 60,000 people in Dublin left their homes to catch buses this morning. While these individuals may be used to buses running late, for many of them there were no bus services at all today. The Government and the Department of Transport should be intervening in this matter much more actively than currently appears to be the case. Many discussions relating to transport refer to bodies over which, unfortunately, we do not have any control. I refer, for example — as did a previous speaker — to Aer Lingus.

The position relating to Dublin Bus is somewhat unique. Each year the Department of Transport pays the company a subvention allowance in respect of the number of passengers it carries. This allows the Department to make a contribution to the costs of the company, which gives it direct influence on the latter's operational and other decisions. We should be dealing with this matter in a much more urgent fashion than at present. Three things should happen.