John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am here today to welcome a really progressive and ambitious project that we are embarking upon, which is the youth travel scheme. For those who do not realise it, the youth travel card is providing 50% free cost of travel to those aged between the ages of 17 and 23. The reason I am standing in the Seanad today to raise this in the Commencement debate follows on from a very important meeting I had yesterday with Paddy Matthews, who is the founder and managing director of Matthews Coaches, which operates buses from Dundalk, Drogheda and Bettystown. If I have to declare an interest in one sense, I was a commuter with Matthews Coaches for seven or eight years to Leinster House, when I worked here as a member of staff. It is a wonderful service that provides so much for people in my community. It was a service that started 20 years ago, when there were no direct services between Dundalk and Dublin and Drogheda and Dublin. It provides a valuable resource for the people of my county.

The problem is that the introduction of the 50% levy is not scheduled to take place on 9 May for the commercial bus operators alongside all of the public service operators. It will be included at a later date, and that has been confirmed in the past 24 hours by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, so we know that. What I am coming to the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and the Government about is that we need to bring clarity as soon as possible for those in the private bus sector and to be able to say to them that the 50% will be available for them at a certain date.

I googled the figures before I came into the House. At the minute, a return ticket on a Matthews Coaches bus from Dundalk to Dublin works out at about €17 whereas a return ticket on Bus Éireann works out at about €11. If we were to take the 50% off for Bus Éireann which will come in on 9 May, 50% of €11 is €5.50, so why on earth would I get a bus for €17 return when I can take one at €5.50 on Bus Éireann? Granted, the Bus Éireann 100X bus provides a different service and takes longer to get to Dublin because it goes via other villages and via Dublin Airport, but that is a substantial price discrepancy. That will be the case even when the 50% discount is introduced for private buses, given 50% of €17 is €8.50, so Bus Éireann will still be cheaper.

The problem is that what we are introducing now is a massive discrepancy between public and private operators. We are coming out of a pandemic in the last two and a half years where bus passenger numbers have been down massively. Before this pandemic, Matthews Coaches would have carried about 7,000 people a day but it is operating at 51% to 56% of that today. For it to be able to get any sort of profit or run a manageable service, it needs to get back to about 70% of pre-pandemic levels. It accepts it will never get back to 100% because of remote working and because of the way things are, but it needs to get back to a certain sustainable level. I am not saying we are doing this as a Government - this is just a grey area that has come along. However, we are completely undercutting people who are involved in the private bus sector around the country as a result.

Competition is key. We need to provide competition in an open market to provide the best outcome for consumers, but this is not open competition. It is providing a substantial financial advantage to public sector bus operators compared to the private sector. What I am looking for from the Minister of State today is clarity that the Government will introduce the 50% discount and provide a timeline for when it will come in. That clarity and certainty will be very important for those who are involved as private operators in the bus sector.