Seanad debates

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Adjournment Matters

Bus Services.

5:00 pm

Photo of Fiona O'MalleyFiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am concerned about what has happened to the bus market in Dublin in light of the fact that a private operator is being forced to stop services next week. What has happened is the kind of thing that the Government has promised to deal with over the past ten years. A private company had been successfully providing a service that was not provided before — from Lucan and Rathfarnham to the city centre — and commuters had become very dependent on it. Dublin Bus claims it has been operating within the guidelines, and it may be the case that is has not exceeded them. However, it is clear that there is not a level playing field.

Dublin Bus operates its buses with certain subsidies, affording it certain advantages. It is contrary to any principles that it would exploit those advantages to crush a competitor, but that is effectively what happened this week. I do not think we can stand over this kind of practice. When the Minister was in the House dealing with the Dublin Transport Authority Bill, I expressed my concerns about the need to update the 1932 Act. He indicated that the Bill was a priority for him, but that he would get around to the Act later. I accept that everything cannot be done in one day, but what signals are we giving Dublin commuters and private providers by allowing this kind of thing to happen?

I know the Minister is not pleased by the way Dublin Bus has conducted itself in this matter. The company may be technically correct in operating within the regulations but there is no way the State wants public money to be used to chase a private operator. Companies should go after business and this service was originally instigated because Dublin Bus chose not to provide the service. In my own area of Dalkey, we have a service to Dublin Airport, known as the Patton Flyer. It is long overdue but Mr. Patton was obliged to operate beyond the law because he was waiting for two years to obtain a licence. It is not correct that the process should take that length of time, and the Department needs to look at it.

Competitiveness in the transport industry has worked very well, especially in the aviation industry and shipping. Why should it not be the case for buses as well?

From every viewpoint we need to improve public transport, including from a climate change, transportation and congestion point of view. We constantly talk about how to get people to use public transport. Initiatives such as the Luas, the DART and improvements to the latter have encouraged people to use public transport. However, when a private operator is supplying a good reliable service and then the public operator comes in behind to try to crush him or her, that does not serve a purpose for anybody, and least of all the reputation of public transport.

It has been a struggle to get much of the direct information from Dublin Bus concerning the commercial viability of particular routes. A way around this has been through integrated ticketing, where one could clearly see what are the margins on particular routes. The State should be applying the subsidy where it is needed and to whom it is needed. We should not support bus routes that do not need a subsidy. It is like drawing teeth, I know, getting this information from Dublin Bus. In truth, however, it is not good enough that we have had to wait. This is the very information by which we can make informed decisions with regard to where we need to apply a public service obligations subsidy so that we can provide a better public service on particular routes. I accept the Minister is seeking to get this done. However, this week we reached a crisis in terms of what happened this week with Circle Line. I hope it proves to be a catalyst in developing change.

I also hope the Minister of State will be able to demonstrate to commuters that we value them and want them to use the public bus service. Consumers do not care who owns the bus or who is running it, as long as it is reliable. I should like to believe we can depend, deliver and develop a competitive bus market for the commuters of Dublin.

Photo of Noel AhernNoel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Senator O'Malley for raising the matter. On behalf of Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, I am glad of the opportunity to outline to the House the arrangements planned to upgrade bus services in the Dublin area.

Bus services are and will remain the predominant mode of public transport in the Dublin area. More than 147 million passengers were carried by bus in the greater Dublin area in 2007, while 28.4 million were carried on Luas and over 20 million on the DART. The challenge now is to decide how best, building on the achievements to date and in the context of legislative reform, we can ensure that the optimal arrangements are in place for the planning and delivery of bus services in the greater Dublin area with a view to achieving further expansion and enhancement of public bus services.

A number of priorities have been identified in the Agreed Programme for Government in this area. The programme contains a commitment to expedite the establishment of a Dublin transport authority, which will have the necessary powers to ensure the delivery of the integrated public transport system envisioned under Transport 21. The Senator will be aware that the Dublin Transport Authority Bill has been discussed in this House and is currently before the Dáil. Hopefully, it will be completed by the summer recess.

The Bill establishes a comprehensive framework which will give the new Dublin transport authority the power to procure public passenger transport services through the making of public service transport contracts. Section 48 of the Bill envisages that the DTA may enter into contracts following open tendering in respect of public bus passenger services, as well as metro and light rail services. It also provides that public bus and rail services can be secured by means of direct award contracts. However, section 52 provides that direct award contracts will only apply to the continued provision of the services currently being provided by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann.

Accordingly, the future growth in the market for subvented public bus services will be pursued by way of open tendering in accordance with the new EU Regulation 1370/2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road. All contracts will be framed against the background of EU law, will set strict standards of operational performance and customer service and will contain penalties for non-performance.

The provisions of the Bill seek to maintain a balance between the need for transport services, including bus passenger transport services, that are the subject of a public service obligation and the licensing of private transport operators who provide commercial bus transport services and are licensed under the provisions of the Road Transport Act 1932. It will be a matter for the DTA to procure the provision of public transport services and in so doing to determine whether or not a public service obligation should be applied in respect of particular services.

The programme for Government includes a commitment to improving bus services under Transport 21 by reforming the bus licensing provisions of the Road Transport Act 1932, to facilitate the optimum provision of services by providing a level playing field for all market participants, both public and private. It is the Minister's intention that proposals for a new bus licensing regime will follow the Dublin Transport Authority Bill in subsequent legislative proposals to be contained in a public transport regulation Bill. The new Bill will deal with the replacement of the Road Transport Act 1932 and the provisions of the Transport Act 1958 that relate to the provision of bus services by the State bus companies. The new bus licensing regime will be designed in a manner consistent with the new EU PSO regulation. It is envisaged that the new licensing structure will apply in respect of all commercial bus services, including those provided by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, and that the powers to grant licences in the greater Dublin area will be given to the Dublin transport authority. Pending regulatory reform, the Department of Transport continues to licence applications from private bus operators within the Dublin region, as per the old legislation.

The Minister is confident that the Dublin Transport Authority Bill when enacted will facilitate an important initial step in the reform of the bus market in the greater Dublin area to the benefit of both public and private operators and, of even more importance, in the interests of the travelling public in general. This will be followed in due course by the next phase of the bus reform programme in the public transport regulation Bill. That is basically what Department officials have been doing. They have been working on the Dublin Transport Authority Bill, which will soon be enacted. As soon as it is, full attention will be given to reform of the 1932 Act.

What happened last week regarding Circle Line was unfortunate. Mr. Morton has made a number of allegations. It is not the first time he has made them. There have been numerous complaints to the Department, which were relayed to Dublin Bus. Dublin Bus would deny the allegations and it is not for me to adjudicate on how much validity was in the complaints. Circle Line believes that Dublin Bus put many services on the routes where it was unnecessary. However, the city is developing and evolving and it is difficult to be a Solomon on some of these issues. When the Dublin Transport Authority Bill is passed and the new legislation is introduced, reforming the 1932 Act — about which we have been talking for decades — this will provide for new services into the future over and above any expansion of bus services in the city.

The bus will be very important in the city in the future, particularly when the construction works on the metro and interconnector lines are under way. In the event the bus will be king for a certain length of time, because there may not be room for everyone on the road. Bus services are and will remain very important to the city. The passing of these two Bills will hopefully mean the problems that arose last week will be a thing of the past.

Photo of Fiona O'MalleyFiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I agree with him in regard to the role and importance of bus transport. Buses represent good value for money and new bus routes and services can be quickly implemented. Particularly in these tightening economic circumstances, we will be dependent on private operators to provide bus services. It is not necessary to have public buses on a route; it does not matter who provides the service.

Changing the 1932 legislation has been talked about for a long time. The Road Transport Act was produced in 1932 to curtail bus services because they were in competition with the railways. In such a dynamic economy, it is appalling such restrictive legislation is still in use. As the Minister of State said, our duty is to the consumer and Dublin's commuters. Dublin Bus has done itself a disservice. The Minister of State is not best pleased with how the company conducted itself in this matter. This cherry-picking practice will not be tolerated and Members, now wise to it, will watch developments carefully. I look forward to the swift implementation of the amended 1932 Act and a dynamic bus service, not just in Dublin, but across the country.

The Seanad adjourned at 5.45 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 25 June 2008.