Alex White (Labour)

My party supports the very thoughtful motion tabled by the Fine Gael Members. Despite the Government amendment, supported by the Minister of State, I was struck by the fact that another day has gone by without the Government tabling any real proposals in respect of the crisis we face. It has told us over and over how bad things are. Of course, it is important that it makes clear the position but it has come across with precious little in terms of what it proposes to do.

The Minister of State departed from his script to tell us that today an announcement was made in regard to the roads programme, which is important. I have not had the opportunity to look at the detail of that announcement but it comes only days after the Minister for Transport announced severe cuts in Dublin Bus and public transport provision in the Dublin area. Despite what some people might think, I do not wait for opportunities to have a go at the Green Party but I cannot let this pass. In the lead-up to the last general election, representatives of the Green Party said repeatedly that public transport provision should take priority over the roads programme, and I agreed with them. I paraphrase the manner in which that was argued throughout the election but I always agreed with it. I thought it was something of a core value that when we looked at the expansion and provision of transport, public transport would take centre stage and would be prioritised by any Government of which the Green Party was a member. I regret it appears it has not been able to persuade the Minister for Transport to refrain from making these types of cuts in Dublin Bus.

I was amazed to hear a further announcement by the Minister for Transport in the past day or two of a study into the efficiency of Dublin Bus. Everybody is in favour of efficiency in public transport but it seems extraordinary that a Government which has been in power for 11 or 12 years now decides to engage in a study on the efficiency of Dublin Bus. It seems that the cuts are being proposed under cover of a suggestion that there is not efficiency in that service when clearly what we need, and what the Green Party always agreed, are more buses on the streets of Dublin in particular, the city I know best. Perhaps the same applies in Cork and Senator Dan Boyle can tell us about that when he gets an opportunity.