Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 November 2022
2. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on the BusConnects project in Cork; if he will confirm if the routes will be subject to tender for private operators; the guarantees he can give in terms of workers’ rights and service levels for outsourced routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55832/22]
View answerI ask the Minister to report on the BusConnects project in Cork. Will he confirm that the routes will be subject to tender for private operators? What guarantees can be given in terms of workers' rights and service levels for outsourced routes?
BusConnects Cork is the NTA's plan for the development and delivery of a sustainable, high-quality bus system for the Cork metropolitan area. The NTA is developing plans to introduce 12 new sustainable transport corridors, which will encompass 93 km of bus lanes and 112 km of cycle lanes across the city. Investing in a sustainable future for Cork is vital for supporting the city's growth over the coming two decades. Following two earlier rounds of public consultation, the NTA launched its new design for the Cork metropolitan bus network in June, with consultation closing on 3 October. Submissions received during that process are now being considered by the NTA and a further round of public consultation on the revised proposals will take place next year.
The new network is intended to transform the public transport network across the whole Cork metropolitan area. The new network will involve the creation of new bus routes and improved bus frequencies and will provide an increase of over 50% in bus services across the city, helping to transform the public transport system to meet anticipated growth and future travel demand in the region. To date, no decisions have been made regarding how services will be secured. The NTA has a directly awarded contract with Bus Éireann for bus services in Cork and this contract may be varied as a means to provide some services. Alternatively, the NTA may elect to seek an operator or operators by public tender. In either case, the NTA will ensure that providers of contracted services comply with all relevant Irish and European law, including employment law.
I strongly believe that Cork city needs to move towards having fewer cars, more public transport and more bicycles on the road. Key to making public transport more attractive is to slash fares, even going so far as to make fares entirely free. Given this, I am disturbed that the Minister's reply holds open the real possibility that 12 strategic transport corridors could go out to tender. If they do, the Minister and I know that private companies which pay lower wages will have a competitive advantage and could end up operating at least some of those routes. Cork city has never in modern times had key bus routes run by private operators on a for-profit basis. Privatisation would be a big step backwards and potentially is being facilitated by BusConnects Cork. I ask the Minister to comment further on the matter.
I agree with the Deputy about the benefits for Cork in terms of getting a really good bus service. This is challenging because it requires giving road space and priority for buses at junctions. I know there is a lot of concern in Cork, particularly around whether any trees or front gardens are affected. That became clear during the consultation process. The experience of going through a similar process in Dublin may steer us in the direction of giving even stronger priority for buses within the existing road network as a way of meeting the desire to improve bus services without affecting the local environment. I hope the Deputy and other parties and representatives will engage. We need to do it quickly.
I do not agree on the idea that it would be a free service. We need the funding for the additional services that are going to be provided. The issue of contracting is not being decided in this consultation process. There is a European regulation from 2007 and a directive from 2004 which mean the NTA is obliged to introduce competitive tendering for public service obligation, PSO, contract services. How exactly that is done is a matter that the NTA has to consider. There are various examples, and the Deputy cites Dublin as one, of recent tendered services. Bus Éireann provides the service in Waterford as a single supplier. There are different options in terms of how this can be delivered.
The Minister cites Dublin as an example. Dublin certainly is an example that people in Cork need to look at very carefully. What percentage of the routes have been privatised in Dublin? Go-Ahead Ireland has control of 10% of the routes, I think. Fines were announced the other day for falling down on service provision. Dublin Bus was fined €1.5 million and Go-Ahead Ireland was fined €850,000. I would expect that if Go-Ahead Ireland had 10% of the routes it would get 10% of the fines, if its service provision was of an equal quality to the public company. They did not have 10% of the fines; they had nearly 40% of the fines. Going by fines, the service was nearly four times worse on the private routes. That is a warning to the people of Cork. They need to raise their voices to stop the threat of privatisation of bus services in the city. The Minister has not excluded that as a possibility. He has said that there are various options but by citing the European directives he has given a very clear indication of what road the NTA is likely to go down. Can he clarify when the NTA will provide clarification on this question?
We cannot ignore European law. I am just stating what is obvious and what exists. As a member of the EU, we exist within the European legal system. I do not disagree with the Deputy's comments about the real problems we have seen in Dublin recently for all the bus companies in terms of getting drivers and getting service reliability. We have to address that. It was a good start when the companies apologised to the Oireachtas committee yesterday. I would have to say on comparing Cork and Dublin, and one never does that at the best of times, that in my mind the real problem in Cork is that the bus service is not extensive enough. It is not good enough as it currently is. I mean no disrespect to the bus drivers in Bus Éireann or the company. The service is not good enough. This project provides for a 50% increase, with two new 24-hour services on major lines running from Ballincollig right through the city to Mahon, and from Carrigaline through the city up to Hollyhill. It provides for services seven days per week, with buses coming every 15 minutes.
Why does the Minister link it to privatisation?
No. First and foremost it is the public I am thinking of. We need to get that really high-quality service. The biggest problem we have is political and public support locally for the changes to make that happen. If we do not get that right, we will be stuck in the current system. Cork does not have a good enough bus service, and upper Glanmire, Waterfall and Kerry Pike do not get bus services. They will come in with this new system.
