Since outlining my proposals for regulatory and structural reform of public transport to the Public Transport Partnership Forum last November, I have met trade union delegations on four occasions. At our meeting on 4 February I agreed to bilateral discussions between my Department and the trade unions on the reform of the bus market in Dublin. A total of four bilateral meetings were held during February and March.
The most recent meeting with the trade unions took place last Thursday when the Taoiseach, I and the secretaries general of both our Departments met a delegation from congress. At that meeting it was agreed that there would be further contacts between congress and officials from our Departments.
From the discussions which have taken place, I am acutely aware of the concerns of the trade unions and their members and I hope they also fully understand that the primary objective of the proposals for the regulatory reform of public transport is the delivery of more and better quality public transport services to the travelling public at a reasonable cost to both the user and the taxpayer. The proposals are designed to use competition for the provision of services to stimulate better performance, improved efficiency and better cost effectiveness and to enable taxpayers to see clearly how funding for public transport is being spent to deliver service and to establish a clear link between payments from the taxpayer and performance.
While I am anxious to make speedy progress on the implementation of a programme of regulatory and structural reform, I am also anxious to continue a constructive dialogue with the trade unions.
