Vol. 568 No. 6
76 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties being experienced by a public transport company (details supplied) in County Donegal; the steps he is taking to ensure continuity of service to those living in the area serviced by the said company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16937/03]
The Minister, Deputy Brennan, and I met a delegation on 8 April 2003 from the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company to discuss the possible withdrawal or curtailment of certain bus services in Donegal by the company from the end of June 2003, on the grounds that the services involved were loss making and could not be sustained.
Following that meeting I had immediate follow-up discussions with Bus Éireann and it was agreed that Bus Éireann would pursue discussions directly with the company to explore options for continuing bus services in Donegal in the event of a withdrawal or curtailment of services by the company. Those discussions and correspondence, have been ongoing in the meantime, culminating in a meeting last Thursday in Donegal between senior executives from both companies.
In the latest discussions, there was a detailed exchange of views between both sides, and the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company is to follow up with the provision of additional information to Bus Éireann. These contacts are designed to assist in developing appropriate arrangements for the continuing provision of public transport services in north west Donegal.
My Department met senior executives of Bus Éireann yesterday afternoon to hear a report on their discussions with the company, to review the situation, and to discuss options. Further contact is to take place over the next week to progress the matter further.
I am sure that the Minister of State realises D-day, 30 June, is rapidly approaching – it is less than two weeks away. I am sure he would also agree that Lough Swilly Bus Company has been as important to Donegal as Bus Éireann is to the rest of this country. Will he agree there are large tracts of areas in Donegal such as Inishowen, the Fanad Peninsula and the area from Letterkenny to Gweebarra where Bus Éireann is virtually unknown? Will he also agree that the Lough Swilly Bus Company has provided an excellent service to those parts of Donegal for more than 70 years since 1929? It is a unique service, one of the oldest in Europe. I ask the Minister of State to do everything he can to maintain it, or does he believe that vast tracts of Donegal can be left without a public transport service?
The routes threatened to be axed are those serving the remoter parts of Donegal. This service has played a dual role in providing not only a public transport service but a social service. It would be devastating if these parts of Donegal were left without a public transport service.
The Minister and the Minister of State met representatives of the Lough Swilly Bus Company and Oireachtas representatives some two months ago. I am disappointed this matter has not yet been resolved. There are plans to deregulate public transport and perhaps these areas of Donegal could be used as pilot areas to try out the Minister's theories on deregulating public transport.
I agree with the Deputy that the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company is the oldest cross-Border institution in the State. Unfortunately, its main assets currently are its 96 buses, the average age of which is 20 years old. We are trying to maintain the operation of the services to west Donegal and the Inishowen Peninsula in the interim period. We have been discussing this matter frequently since April. We must try to maintain the operation of these services in the meantime and Bus Éireann must explore the entire network of the service that has been provided to make sure that such a service is provided in the long-term.
The Deputy must understand that the services about which we are talking are the essential scheduled services. According to my information, it accounts for only 28% of the total revenue of the Lough Swilly Bus Company. The revenue of the company has dramatically fallen by £212,000 stg, most of that loss of revenue has occurred in other areas, a decline in contract revenue of £61,000 stg and garage revenue of £110,000 stg. We are monitoring these services.
The Minister spoke about the appointment of a regulator. We are trying to maintain these services in the interim. We are basing the operation of these services under two legislative measures, the 1932 legislation and the 1958 legislation, the latter accounting for our only being able to provide a subvention to CIE. That legislation prevents us from giving a subsidy. We are trying to make sure this company's services are maintained in the interim, even if by subcontract, and Bus Éireann will continue discussions with the company to explore the continuation of the network of services in the long-term.
Will the Minister of State agree that the 28% of revenue accruing to the company from the operation of these services provides services for people who do not have public transport of their own? The company also provides a social service. These bus services are used mainly by elderly people travelling to the towns of Falcarragh, Dunglow, Gortahork and even Letterkenny, visiting hospitals, clinics, collecting pensions and so on. There is an important social dimension to the 28% revenue accruing to the company from these services.
Will the Minister of State give an undertaking to the Dáil that, irrespective of what happens between now and 30 June, these elderly people living in remote areas who are completely dependent on these services will not be left without a public transport service after 30 June? We need to be given that guarantee. Concern about these services is the talk of the county, yet nothing seems to be happening. The Minister of State has given us the up-to-date position, but D-day is upon us and the people affected want their concerns allayed as soon as possible. The Minister of State would be doing these people a great service if he assured them that, irrespective of what happens between now and 30 June, a public transport service to Letterkenny will be operating on 1 July.
The Lough Swilly Bus Company has been an important aspect of Donegal and without it the people there would not have any public transport. In recent times other agencies have started work on providing a bus service there. Can an imaginative approach not be taken to providing for the rural transport needs of people from counties such as Donegal, particularly for people living in Inishowne from where I come, to ensure that old age pensioners can use their bus pass to travel to Stroove, Malin Head, Glengad and Inch and so on? We need to consider this from a financial point of view, because that is where the problem arises. We can get 300 people to sign a petition to keep the bus going, but we cannot get three people to use the bus. We should examine the idea of using smaller buses to serve these smaller routes to ensure they are more viable. We need to take an overall, imaginative look at the problem and to be realistic in our expectations because we need services to be expanded, not just maintained. There is no point in giving bus passes to pensioners if there is no service. We need to resolve the issue with the Lough Swilly Bus Company. There are people there who are eager to give a contract—
We have exceeded the time limit for this question.
Can we sit down together and come up with an imaginative plan to move things on?
Unfortunately, we cannot break the rules of the House.
It is a very important issue, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I am sure the Minister will be generous in his response.
I cannot give an absolute guarantee to the Deputy—
That is disappointing.
—but I do not envisage any interruption to the service while we are negotiating with the company. We have been negotiating ever since we met the delegation on 8 April. There is no absolute guarantee of anything, but we will continue to negotiate. In the three years the service has been in existence, 62% of its funding has come from State or semi-State bodies; in other words, from the Department of Education and Science, from the Department of Social and Family Affairs and other bodies in Northern Ireland. I agree with the Deputies that we must look after the older people in our society. We must ensure that certain areas of Donegal have a service and, as Deputy Keaveney said, we should expand those services. The main issue is that people do not seem to be using the services, but we do have a public service obligation and we will try to ensure that the service is not interrupted.
I must alert Deputies to the fact that we must stick to the rules of the House on time limits. We must be fair to the Deputies who have been sitting here for the best part of an hour waiting for their questions to be answered. Their questions might not be reached if we continue to break the rules.
