Unlike Deputy Wilson's constituency, the headquarters of the railway are in my constituency and Inchicore Railway Works are almost part of my blood as I was born and reared right beside them.
I want to turn to some of the points made by Deputies during the course of this debate. Before turning attention to the longer term transportation problems in the Dublin area, I should like to refer to two issues which came in for particular comment. These are the cheap day bus excursions to Newry being advertised by CIE and bus services in the Finglas area. As some Deputies pointed out in relation to the Newry traffic, it is anomalous on the one hand to press CIE to perform more commercially and on the other hand to complain when they try to compete with the private sector as in the case of the excursions to Newry. Independently of this debate I have been considering this problem and have come to the conclusion that commercially, if that can be taken in isolation, CIE were correct in seeking to capture a part of this market.
I am very keenly aware of the damage that this type of traffic can do to jobs and trade. There can be no doubt about where my first loyalty lies. It is most regrettable that so many people are travelling to Newry for the purpose of shopping though down through the years the situation has varied as between traffic coming southwards and traffic going northwards. It is going northwards at present but this is something that I deprecate. However, having considered the situation and taken advice on it, I decided it would be wrong of me to make any approach to CIE on the matter because first there is the consideration that very often CIE's problems have been added to either by deed or by omission of Government. I have made a conscious decision to try to keep out of the day-to-day affairs of the company. As I have said, I will not be dealing with deputations in respect of day-to-day matters of CIE. There has been too much of that. It is not the role of the Minister or of the Government especially when pressure created in that way has had implications and has left the company in a situation of defending criticism of a deficit thus created, criticism from politicians who pressured the company into foregoing revenue and adding to the company costs. Therefore, I will not be interfering with CIE in relation to their Newry bus service. That is a matter the company can decide for themselves, they have heard the widespread criticism that has been levelled against them in this regard both by Deputies and by people outside of here.
In the case of the Finglas area, I must disagree with some of the views expressed. As a percentage of the population, Finglas has no more or no fewer trouble makers than any other locality. However, the grim fact is that in Finglas bus crews have been seriously assaulted and buses damaged. These problems will not be resolved by describing them as harassment. They will not even be resolved by better insurance schemes for bus crews. Though I have no direct responsibility for any particular bus service, I should like to record my concern that bus crews, whose jobs are difficult enough anyway, cannot go about their normal work of servicing the general public without fear of assault. It is disgraceful that CIE bus crews trying to serve the genuine needs of the people of Finglas and else where should be assaulted in this manner by a small unrepresentative minority. I very much regret that the responsible majority must suffer because of the misbehaviour of a small number. I am hopeful that efforts by the Garda and by community leaders in the Finglas area will lead to a full restoration of services. While I understand Deputy Tunney's concern in this matter, I considered his contribution to be lacking in terms of balance. I cannot recall making any reference to efforts made by him or by any other public representative from the constituency to ensure that bus crews would not be attacked in future. I say that because last year a similar problem arose in part of my constituency. In that instance Deputies for the area went to the locality concerned, convened a meeting and were successful in mooting an effort which would ensure that there would be no repetition of attacks on bus crews. That effort was successful and the bus service was promptly restored with agreement from the bus crews and from their unions. Perhaps Deputy Tunney and the other Deputies concerned in the case of the Finglas area might try a similar effort, if they have not done so already.
The longer-term transportation problems of the Dublin area have been raised in the context of the Howth-Bray scheme, developments in relation to the DTA, the Tallaght rapid transit proposal and current road policies. I agree fully, as some Deputies suggested, that the Howth-Bray service should be marketed heavily by CIE so that the daily carryings reach the projected targets as quickly as possible. Undoubtedly, in purely transport terms the scheme is very attractive. However, as I pointed out in my introductory remarks, the point at issue is not so much the improvement in transport itself but rather the cost at which this is being achieved. Both the capital and operating costs of the scheme clearly underline the magnitude of transportation decisions for the Dublin area.
Deputies have mentioned the CIE proposal for a rapid transit link from Tallaght to Heuston Station. This proposal, like its predeccessor for the Howth-Bray line, derives from the recommendations of the Dublin Rapid Rail Transit Study. I am more than well aware of the pressing demands in the Tallaght area for improvements not only to the transportation system but also to any other facilities and amenities. We would be doing no good for the people of Tallaght if we embarked on a very costly project of this nature without being certain beforehand that the proposal was merited not just in terms of the capital investment costs but also having regard to the ongoing interest charges that will accrue from such investment. At this moment the question of Tallaght transportation is on the agenda of the permanent capital committee.
Unfortunately in tackling transport problems there has been a tendency on the part of various bodies to opt for high technology and costly solutions when very often something much less costly might prove equally effective. A prime example of this are the bus lanes that have been introduced throughout Dublin. It is only fair to congratulate the Dublin Transportation Task Force in this respect and also Deputy Reynolds who as Minister for Transport initiated these lanes with great gusto. All of these bus lanes will repay their investment within three years, some well within that period. There is the question also of the competing demands for investment in either road or rail solutions of our difficulties. These are the considerations that prompted the Transport Consultative Commission to recommend the creation of the Dublin Transport Authority. In that regard proposals were agreed by the last Government and, while I am very committed to the introduction of a Dublin Transport Authority, I am happy with the details of those early proposals. I am having another look at them before a decision is made.
Deputies have raised questions in relation to CIE's new buses, the manufacturing arrangements at Shannon and the export prospects. As Deputies will appreciate, the Shannon company is a private concern and I have no direct dealings with it or responsibility for it. I am glad to confirm that a small export order is just being completed and I hope that the company's efforts to secure export orders will be successful. The arrangements for meeting CIE's future bus needs will be influenced by the outcome of negotiations going on between the Shannon firm and CIE in relation to the board's 1984 requirements.
The renewal of the school bus fleet from the mid eighties onwards is an issue which, I understand, the Minister for Education has under consideration.
The poor condition of CIE's mainline rolling stock, particularly on trains to the west, has been mentioned. As I have already told the House, CIE's carriage building programmes envisages the acquisition of 124 carriage units over the next few years. The first train sets will be available from Inchicore before the middle of 1984, in the next six months. I understand that it is CIE's intention to use the new stock to gradually upgrade the standard of carriages in use on the western lines, though of course the decisions as to which services they will be used on is a matter for the board.
Deputy Kelly in the course of the debate repeated his rather novel suggestion that some attempt be made to get private sector involvement in the proposed Tallaght rapid rail link. Novel as the suggestion is I know of no successful urban transit systems in which private sector interests participate directly. Given the costs involved, the lack of population density and the rather meagre revenues, I see little private sector involvement in any urban rail transit operation here. There is, however, some potential in the bus area for private sector involvement in public transport. The Road Transport Act, 1932, effectively governs the operation of the private sector road passenger industry in Ireland and I have initiated a review of the operation and the provisions of that Act.
I should like now to refer to the transport statistics mentioned by Deputy Wilson. There are a number of trends in these statistics that are worth referring to. In the case of railway receipts for passengers, parcels mails, etc., there was an increase of just over 5 per cent in the first four months of this year, by comparison with the same period last year. However, when account is taken of inflation during the period, rail passenger receipts fell in real terms by almost 5 per cent.
The picture for revenue from freight trains is a little more encouraging, although the revenue base is smaller than that for rail passengers. Nevertheless, in the first four months of the year the CSO show that freight train revenue rose by 17 per cent over the comparable months of 1982. This represents a real increase of nearly 6 per cent after account has been taken of inflation.
In terms of rail passenger carryings there was a welcome increase of nearly 7 per cent in the first four months of this year. The trend in rail freight tonnage was in the opposite direction. The CSO show a 10 per cent drop in the first four months of the year by comparison with the same period of last year.
As Deputy Wilson pointed out in his speech, the CSO have more up to date figures on road motor passenger services. Statistics are available for the first five months of the year. They show that gross receipts for road motor passenger services are up over 18 per cent in the first five months of the year. After adjusting for inflation this represents a real increase of over 6 per cent by comparison with the same period last year. In terms of actual passenger journeys there was only a slight increase of just under 1 per cent in the first five months of the year.
I do not have time to refer to all the points raised by Members but I undertake to send a detailed reply to all Members who raised issues during the debate. In regard to the Dublin passenger service I should like to tell Deputy Wilson, who asked me about the component parts of the great recovery in the position of CIE this year, the best year they have had for a long time, that I do not have the full facts. However, I should like to tell him that one of the areas where there has been an encouraging trend was in the Dublin city passenger service. For example, the amount of loss compared to the amount of expenditure has fallen from a figure in the region of 42 per cent in 1981 to 27 per cent. For the first time in several years the number of passengers carried has increased. That halt in an adverse trend is welcome and, hopefully, this new development of increased passenger numbers of Dublin buses will continue. It is not easy to be certain of the reasons for this, but three factors have contributed to it. Firstly, with the renewal of buses there are fewer breakdowns resulting in a more reliable service. Passengers feel more comfortable and happy travelling on the new buses. The second factor is the introduction of bus lanes and they have helped to reduce the journey times of many buses. The third factor is that we have had fewer strikes on the Dublin bus service. I do not have figures for this and this is only an impression I have.
I should like to say to people working in CIE, particularly those working on the Dublin city services where there has been an undue number of stoppages, that one man can put up to 250,000 people walking over a trivial matter. I appeal to CIE employees to stop this practice. If there are one-man, undemocratic pickets employees should pass them. When such strikes take place CIE lose more people than the passengers unable to use the service for the duration of such strikes. It is because people are not sure when a strike will occur that they resort to using their cars to get to work. If people could be sure of a comfortable and speedy bus service they would use it to a greater extent. We could then look forward to a greater increase in passenger numbers carried. That would greatly help the performance of the company in achieving the new targets set by the Government. It would avoid the possible necessity for cuts in service which may lead to redundancies. In fact, those employees might be saving their own jobs.
Given the very encouraging trend this year there is a great incentive for all CIE employees to break out of old practices and bad habits which have not helped the position of the company in the past so that the company and the travelling public can look forward to a better future.
