Vol. 559 No. 1
366 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Transport if he has satisfied himself that recent fare increases introduced by Dublin Bus have been sanctioned by his Department; the details of those increases; the reason for the increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25655/02]
367 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Transport if the policy of his Department is to encourage people to switch from the private car to public transport, particularly in the Greater Dublin area; his views on whether recent fare increases granted might hinder this policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25656/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 366 and 367 together.
CIE submitted an application for a fares increase to my Department in July of this year. The application was made by CIE in the context of losses that have arisen as a consequence of the expansion of services in recent years, increasing congestion, rising overheads and increased wage costs following recent wage agreements.
I wrote to the chairman on 19 November 2002 approving an average fares increase of 9% in respect of CIE fares to be introduced from December 2002. In devising their new fares structure, CIE were asked to have particular regard to An Agreed Programme for Government on fares issues and, in particular, the need for greater interchangeability of commuter tickets on bus and rail services, in advance of the introduction of smart card technologies.
I have been assured by CIE that the revised fare increases which came into effect from 9 December have increased only by an average of 9%.
