Vol. 408 No. 4
16 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications when it is envisaged that the legislation liberalising road passenger services will be published; and the reason for the delay in this legislation in view of his earlier commitments in this regard.
I am in the course of finalising my consideration of proposals for the liberalisation of the bus passenger industry and I expect to be in a position to submit detailed proposals to the Government shortly.
One of the major objectives of my proposals will be to improve the levels and quality of bus services available to the general public and to introduce competition in the bus industry on a sensible and orderly basis. The issues involved are complex and I have been consulting extensively with interested parties, in order to secure the maximum level of agreement in relation to the future development of competition within the industry.
I expect that Government will consider the matter within the next few weeks.
The Minister has been promising this legislation for over a year. Is he aware that the law is totally in disrepute at the moment as travel clubs have been formed where illegal scheduled passenger services are being provided on radial routes into Dublin? Will he state whether his proposals will involve free competition on all aspects of Dublin services or will they apply only to rural or provincial city services? When does the Minister expect the legislation to be operative? Will he have regard to the British system in relation to deregulation when there were major closures and instability of services because of the free for all nature of competition there? Will he, therefore ensure that there is orderly development as soon as possible?
The Government will consider the matter within the next few weeks and the legislation will take its course after that. I regret the delay but our proposals will constitute a radical step; we are updating the 1932 Act and it is important to get it right. I have held it back on more than one occasion so that I could consult further with CIE, some trade union interests and other transport interests. As a result of this, better legislation will be introduced. I cannot give details because the Government have not yet fully considered it but its core and philosophy will be my intention to introduce competition to the bus business and to end the monopoly which one company have in the marketplace.
Deputy Farrelly has been offering, I will then call Deputy Byrne and a final question from Deputy Yates.
Will the Minister ensure in the new legislation that rural villages throughout the country will be serviced at least once a week? Heretofore they were serviced on a daily basis but now some rural villages are not served at all by the company.
I will bring the Deputy's comments to the notice of CIE as they operate the service at present.
Will the Minister agree, in the absence of regulation in the system, that the number of private buses cluttering the streets of Dublin causing traffic congestion for Dublin Bus is totally unacceptable? If the Minister is bringing a Bill forward, will he insist that private operators must have private garaging for their buses because the way they are parked at present hinders the free flow of traffic in the city, particularly affecting urban workers who travel to and from the city and are held up in Dublin Bus vehicles?
I intend to see that everybody plays in accordance with the same rules, that will be the cornerstone of the proposed legislation. The payment of taxes and dues, safety regulations and parking will be the same for all operators.
Will the Minister ensure in the proposed legislation that people employed by private operators are covered by the same conditions of employment as those employed by CIE in relation to PAYE and PRSI? Will he ensure that it is not operated on a bandit basis — which is the case at present — where there is exploitation of part-time bus drivers and other employees?
I intend to make it a major part of the legislation that everybody in the business plays by the same rules in regard to public responsibilities, taxation and other areas.
Will the licensing authority be the Minister's Department or will an independent body be issuing such licences? Before the legislation is published, will the Minister ensure that there will be transparency in relation to uneconomic routes? CIE, naturally, say that some routes are not profitable and the new authority or the Department should be in a position to invite tenders based on a fixed level of subsidy per route so that there would be transparent competition.
I cannot tell the Deputy at this stage whether my Department or a licensing authority will issue licences. The Deputy should wait until the legislation is published; I do not think he will be disappointed when he sees it. I have been seeking to establish transparency — the Deputy could probably make a list of uneconomic routes in his own county — and it is my intention to ensure, as this new system develops, that there will be full transparency so that there will not be cross-subsidisation or anything like that.
