Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I love constructive thinking rather than talking the talk, as we do much of the time here. At long last we have what I would call a brainstorming exercise. I do not have great knowledge on this area. I did not have time to read the report. I scanned it this morning and, from my scanning, I can see there is much more to read in it. I would love to have a more detailed debate on it. Listening to the contributions this morning, I will echo many of the points made already.

This report is on how to bring about better efficiency and a reliable mode of transport in cities and towns and in rural and express services. Because I had not done much thinking on it, yesterday morning I stood at a bus stop for 25 minutes at which point four buses came together. I had thought I would have had to get a taxi to the Seanad. I love the line in the report which refers to this as "bunching". What a lovely line to use. I would never have thought to use it. When the four buses arrived, each of them had approximately three passengers. Before they arrived, there was an out-of-service bus. I believed I was going to have a heart attack at that stage. It was the first bus that came and the others came after it. The report touched on the fact there is a real need to ascertain how we can best stagger timetables such that buses would come every five minutes and that one would not have to wait any longer than this. During the 25 minutes for which I was waiting, I looked at the timetable, which was on a little barrelled thing, but could not read it. I took out my glasses, looked at the timetable and tried to see the print but one would have wanted binoculars to read it. I could not get the feel of it.

We talked today about subvention and the very bad economic times. It was suggested that, with the downturn, we will not be able to invest much in the bus service. I sometimes wonder whether money has any bearing because it is a question of efficiency and management. How do we go about managing routes and integrating services? I live in Dublin 4 but I figured out that if I wanted to go to Tallaght Hospital, I would have to get a bus to the Luas stop at St. Stephen's Green, from where I would get a Luas to Tallaght. That is not too bad for me. However, if I were living farther out, for example in Stillorgan, how would I get to Tallaght? How is the system working, if at all? Perhaps it is and I do not know about it. It should not be too hard to create an integrated system.

Have we debated linking services with big schools, retail centres and HSE services? Have we thought about the City Imps? Are these buses still in existence? How about facilitating senior citizens to travel from A to B between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.? I do not know if such services exist. I have not done enough reading and am, therefore, not knowledgeable enough to say much more, but I would like my questions to be answered simply so the public will have the relevant information. Perhaps timetabling is the way forward, such that people could, at various points, step on the bus with their tickets. This seems to be the European approach. We should certainly consider it because I am not so sure we have got it right yet in this country.

Duplication on routes is a waste. Five or six buses of different numbers may travel on the one route, albeit coming from different angles. Perhaps I am lucky to live in a location where four or five buses of different numbers operate on the route that serves me. However, when one sees two No. 10 buses coming one after the other, something is not right. A 64A and 46A may be coming behind them, which is not right either. We must stagger the service. Timetables should be made easy to understand. Out-of-service buses should not be going to garages during peak traffic times and they should come on stream during non-peak times.

It is not always a question of money. The way to deal with any changes is to sit around the table with the unions, management and other interested parties. People want to co-operate. Now, more than ever, there is need for change. The philosophy of life is changing, as is our psychological approach to everything. We have the opportunity to interact and bring about change in a non-confrontational way. We have been confrontational in the past. Let our union representatives and others sit down and negotiate. The change I propose should not be too hard to make. I look forward to a more detailed debate on this subject, perhaps in a couple of months when circumstances stabilise somewhat. At present, everybody is frantic in his or her thinking and I hope we steady up, settle down and decide how we will make services work in every way.