Ciarán Cannon (Fine Gael)

I support the stance adopted by Senators Quinn and O'Malley on this issue. I have grave concerns about affording preference to one sector over another. I do not agree with Senator Norris on what he terms retaining a public transport system. The transport system he described as public has only one function, which is to serve the public need. Whether that service is provided by the public or private sector is irrelevant as long as it is provided to the proper standard and complies with whatever regulations are in place on safety.

The country's experience in the past 20 years has been that when the private sector is offered the opportunity to provide a service for the public, it does so with great aplomb. In the case of public transport, it ends up not alone with a saving for those availing of the service but also with a saving for the taxpayer. In the mid-1980s my brother lived in London, where he secured his first job after he left college. He rang home to Galway at weekends because he was able to do so for free. This was at a time when we had only Eircom which charged us punitive rates. I found it extraordinary that he could ring his home in the west free of charge from London at weekends. That happened because the British Government had introduced competition into the arena. We have seen what happened with Ryanair and mobile phone companies.

The public service transport system is in place to serve the public and provide the best possible value for the taxpayer. It is not in place to serve those who want to engage in outmoded work practices harking back to the 19th century when it was dictated that buses must pass along O'Connell Street with other such nonsense. I do not subscribe to an amendment that seeks to provide favoured treatment for one sector over another.