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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Apr 2015

Vol. 876 No. 2

Other Questions

Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme

Clare Daly

Ceist:

6. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if an extra €7 million has been included in the Dublin Airport Authority funding of the Irish airlines superannuation scheme; and if this was a consequence of the initiative taken by his Department and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation as a result of the expert panel. [16491/15]

It is all a great bit of fun. I hope the Minister is as amused by the plight of the thousands of pensioners who are the victims of the expert panel recommendations regarding the IASS scheme, which were roundly rejected by active members in the DAA and, obviously, overwhelmingly rejected by those who did not have a voice in the process at all, namely, deferred and current pensioners.

We are told that an extra €7 million has been found for DAA pensioners. Where did this come from? How did we get new money now when the Minister said he could not get new money to alleviate the problems of the deferred and current pensioners? If it is not new money, who is losing out?

First, I again make it clear that the IASS and its funding are primarily matters for the trustees, the companies participating in the scheme, the scheme members and the Pensions Authority. At the request of my Department and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the expert panel recently re-engaged with the unions to provide clarification on a number of issues arising from its original report of June 2014. The expert panel issued its final determination on 9 March 2015.

There is no change in the capital sums being provided by the companies as outlined in the expert panel report of June 2014. Specifically, the final determination states that:

The Expert Panel has determined that no alteration to its recommendations in its original Report is necessary. In effect this means that the benefits described in that Report continue to apply as a minimum. The Expert Panel has established some scope to address the redistribution of part of the capital sum recommended for active members so as to address concerns raised and to enhance the position of those who are: (i) closest to retirement and (ii) most impacted by the contribution rates applicable to the lower paid.

I was pleased to note the very positive outcome of the recent ballot in DAA-Shannon Airport. As a result, the IASS issues can be resolved once and for all and staff in Aer Lingus, DAA and Shannon Airport Authority will finally have clarity and certainty about their future pension arrangements. I hope this sentiment is shared by the Deputy.

It is some fairytale for the real lives of the deferred pensioners and those who are currently on a pension. The Minister knows that since the beginning of January, €2 million has been taken out of the pockets of retired staff members in that airport pension scheme. This is income that should have been for them but is not there. This is a severe loss for those people. They do not accept that this is the case. Pensioners will be protesting at the AGM of Aer Lingus tomorrow. As bad as the situation at Aer Lingus is, the situation facing DAA workers is even worse because of the actuarial calculations there.

The Minister tries to wash his hands and say it has nothing to do with him. It has everything to do with him because of the way he signed the commencement order and allowed these cuts to take place under previous changes to pension legislation. It is grossly unfair when people have been excluded from the process. People want to know why it is fair for one group of workers to take a hit like that while no pilot has had their pension reduced or had the determination of their defined benefit scheme changed in any way. How in God's name could this be just?

As part of this process, both companies contributed €260 million to the resolution of this matter. A total of €190.7 million came from Aer Lingus while €72 million came from the DAA. Out of the €260 million, €60 million went into dealing with matters raised by deferees. This was an increase of €20 million as a result of the expert panel process.

The Deputy asked me whether additional funding had been provided as a result of the latest part of the process and referred to €7 million. The answer is that new money was not found. I am not familiar with where the figure of €7 million comes from but perhaps the Deputy might give the background to it. What I do know is that the expert panel report and determination did refer to a figure of up to €5 million for transition measures for the airport fire and police service and €0.85 million for dealing with the resolution of the ARSSS fund. I have always said that I appreciate and have first-hand experience of the huge anguish and worry being caused by this matter but if I had not made the decision I made, an entire fund could have been plunged into huge risk.

The Minister has clearly confirmed that there is no extra money, which means some of the existing active members will take a hit at the expense of others. I ask the Minister not to repeat the statement he made about the €260 million which I have previously had to ask him to correct. Can he make it clear that no extra funding was made available for the IASS scheme? It is a slight difference but it means the world of difference because it means that those people on a pension got nothing. The decisions were made without their consent or engagement. It has already cost them €2 million. It has been estimated that €175 million will be paid by those people to allow that fund to meet its minimum funding standard. This is the reason why hundreds of pensioners are taking legal action against the Government and have written to the Office of the Attorney General to sue the Government for financial losses because of their reasonable expectation that they could enjoy their retirement.

Given that the Government is launching a campaign for equality relating to marriage equality, and correctly so, where is the equality given that no pilots have had to take a hit because the company has engaged with them yet the Government thinks it is okay for ordinary clerical and cabin crew and manual workers to see their retirement incomes devastated in their latter years?

One of the great strengths of the way the marriage equality campaign has been handled by everybody involved is the great attempt by those of us advocating for a "Yes" vote not to politicise it or bring party political matters into it.

I regret the way the Deputy has sought to integrate matters which are entirely different and separate. Although the Deputy has asked me not to repeat facts, it is a fact that additional money was made available by companies to deal with the issue. Given that I came to the issue at the latter phase, I personally pressed both companies to see if more funding could be made available. However, it could not be. Earlier, the Deputy asked me if an additional €7 million had been found to deal with the matter, and I said the answer was " No".

Public Transport

Ruth Coppinger

Ceist:

7. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of the industrial action proposed by the trade unions, if the Government will continue to support the privatisation of 10% of Dublin Bus routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16502/15]

Will the Minister and Government press ahead with the policy of beginning to privatise Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, which is forcing thousands of workers to forgo wages this Friday, May Day, International Workers' Day, by taking industrial action to protect the public ownership of the transport system and their own pay and conditions? Will the Minister pursue the policy of privatisation or meet the workers and engage in constructive discussions with them?

I covered some of this matter earlier in an answer to a priority question from Deputies Dooley and Ellis. At the end of last year, I met the unions regarding the matter and I instigated a process through the Labour Relations Commission, LRC, to respond to the issues the union leaders raised on behalf of their members. The Deputy asked about the terms and conditions of existing employees. I reiterate the statement I made yesterday, that no worker whose route goes to tender and is transferred to another company would be required to transfer as a result. I have dealt with the terms and conditions issues raised by unions on behalf of their members. Yesterday morning, I briefed the Cabinet because I take it as a very serious issue for workers and for the travelling public. Millions of euro will be lost to both companies and millions of journeys will be affected if the seven days of action go ahead. Given that I have dealt with all the issues regarding terms and conditions, why should the strike go ahead based on something that might happen in four years' time?

I will answer the Minister's question. It is because workers are not stupid. While the Minister has given a commitment that he will not transfer existing workers into any privatised company, the public service obligation ends in 2019, only four years away, and they know all bets will be off then. Any new element of the company that would be privatised would be used to drive down pay and conditions. We saw what happened with the Luas, where there are worse conditions and no trade union rights. The public element of the company would be benchmarked against it.

Government policy is to privatise. What the Government is doing is hilarious. It is taking out advertisements to bully people in their 30s to take out private health insurance, but wants us to believe it would not privatise transport or water. Privatisation is part of the Government's neo-liberal agenda. There is 90% support for the strike. The workers know what privatisation means. For the travelling public in the UK, it has meant an increase of 20% in fares in London and 12% in rural areas. The taxpayer has had to step in and prop up these private operators because they could not make enough profits.

My intervention yesterday is the oddest example of neo-liberalism recently seen. Yesterday, I said employees whose routes might go to another company would not be required to move. This is a process in which both companies would be able to participate. The employee would have the choice. I recognise the legitimate concerns employees have raised, while also saying the Government is committed to investing in both companies. We are not doing what the UK did. As the Deputy knows, in some regions the UK Government put the entire market, or large parts of it, out to tender. We are not doing this. We are putting 10% of existing routes out to tender.

Again, I ask the Minister to listen. I just explained why the workers do not accept the Minister's reassurance. The public service obligation will end in 2019 and all bets will be off. This is a stealth process. Of course the Government is not going to privatise 100% of the transport system in one fell swoop. It will begin with 10% and take a softly softly approach. The workers are right to take action now rather than look back with regret in four or five years' time. Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann workers do not enjoy brilliant pay and conditions. Under austerity in the past few years, they have accepted significant pay cuts and worse terms and conditions. Some €55 million has been cut from Dublin Bus since 2009. However, they know that if they join the private sector it will be much worse. This has been the experience of all transport workers.

The Minister took no action until the strike was called. In the past few days he has come out with the reassurance that nobody will be forcibly moved, but he did so only when strike action was called. I call on the workers not to back down but to plough ahead and take full strength from solidarity and see the effects it has already brought from the Minister.

This is a new approach by the Deputy. If I had not done anything, she would accuse me of doing nothing. If I do something, she denies I did anything.

The Minister did it too late.

The Deputy went on to say I had not engaged on the matter. A few moments ago, I described the engagement I had with the unions directly and the length of the process that went on, through the LRC, that involved the unions and the employers, to seek to respond on the matters that are being dealt with. I pointed out that the approach being taken here in Ireland is entirely different from that being taken in other countries. The Deputy accused us of having some agenda on the privatisation of both companies despite the fact that, last year, I invested over €100 million in both companies to represent the very kind of need the Deputy is doing her best to represent here today. I was responding to matters raised by the companies and unions in the past. This is the track record of investment by the Government in them and I have given a commitment that, as I expect the demand for public transport to grow in the future, the Government will seek to match the demand through investment.

Cycling Facilities Provision

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

8. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an itemised list of all cycle routes, and proposed cycle routes, which are being supported financially by the National Transport Authority; if he will indicate the way the authority is supporting cycling initiatives in the commuter belt counties of Kildare and Meath; his plans to address infrastructural deficits in these areas, in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16517/15]

During the past 15 or 20 years, many cycleways have been constructed, some of which are not great because they mix buses and bicycles. Each local authority is doing its own thing, and we need an overview. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has a role and could design the cycleways such that they do not stop at country boundaries and leave gaps.

As the Deputy will be aware, the greater Dublin area, GDA, covers the four Dublin local authority areas as well as Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. In 2013, the NTA finalised its detailed work on the preparation of a greater Dublin area cycle network plan, which aims to bring to bear the kind of planning overview to which the Deputy referred. The plan was formally adopted by the NTA board in December of that year, and provides the blueprint for the development of a strategic cycle network in the greater Dublin area. The plan was prepared in consultation with the seven local authorities in the greater Dublin area and followed a public consultation process.

It followed a number of different steps. It marked the existing and planned cycle network, assessed the quality of service of the existing main cycle routes, identified gaps and looked at future demand. The plan provides for an overall network of 2,900 km of cycle routes in the greater Dublin area. With just more than 500 km in the existing cycle routes, this is an ambitious plan which will take over a decade to deliver.

As the statutory responsibility for the funding of public transport infrastructure, including cycling facilities in the greater Dublin area, is a matter for the NTA, I have requested that it provides Deputy Murphy with a list of all cycling infrastructure projects currently in receipt of funding. I believe that list will be forwarded to the Deputy within the next ten days.

There are lots of new initiatives under way including, for example, greenways and the use of the canals. In the case of the Grand Canal there is a very good quality cycle way up to the Dublin boundary but it needs to be extended to Naas, for example, and I hope that is included in the list to which the Minister referred. Funding is required but the amount is relatively small for what will be delivered. The cycle ways also need to be connected up.

When I was in Boston a number of years ago, roads were closed to cars at weekends and opened up to anything else on wheels, whether roller blades, buggies, wheelchairs or bikes and lots of people went out and used them. Providing cycle facilities and taking a proactive approach to encouraging people to cycle both for leisure and work purposes can help to change habits. In countries like the Netherlands, the longer an uninterrupted cycle route is, the more people are inclined to use it. It is about connecting routes and the NTA providing funding, in addition to drawing up the plan. Will the money be forthcoming?

I accept Deputy Murphy's point that in order for these routes to work well they must be integrated and cover relatively long distances. I had the opportunity to experience the success of the greenway in Mayo just over two weeks ago, in the company of the Minister of State, Deputy Ring. That was delivered in an integrated manner through the local authority, with the consent of many private landowners along the way.

Deputy Murphy asked specifically about cycling projects that are underway in County Kildare and the level of funding that has been made available. There are three such projects, the first of which is the Royal Canal cycling project, which will finalise the design work on the Kildare section of the canal towpath, to progress through to construction of the section from Intel to the Maynooth railway station at a cost of €300,000. Work is also underway to provide cycle and pedestrian improvements alongside the Dublin Road corridor to Naas, at a cost of €200,000, while a further €50,000 has been provided for design work on the Naas canal greenway from Newbridge Road to Sallins.

All of those projects are very welcome. What impressed me about the Dutch cycle route model is the fact that it knits in with the train network. When one goes to a train station in Holland one sees that provision has been made for parking bicycles, getting them up and down ramps and so forth, which is also important in these projects. We need people to shift or mix their modes of transport. We need to take practical steps in the context of climate change and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and pedal power is a great way of doing that.

I agree with Deputy Murphy's points. We are hoping, through our smarter travel initiative, to find ways to encourage more people to use public transport. The Deputy will be aware that the millionth Leap Card was issued in the Dublin area a few weeks ago. We are now extending that programme to different parts of the country. It is now being made available in Limerick, for example.

I accept the Deputy's point about the ability to carry bicycles on the rail network. In fact, this matter was raised with me by a constituent last night in Phibsborough. He had just returned from a cycling holiday in France or Holland and told me that he was able to transport his bike on the train and on getting off the train was able to access a cycle route immediately. I am aware that Irish Rail has similar arrangements in place but I will be raising this matter with the company.

I will conclude by saying that I have just provided details to Deputy Murphy of the investment of just over €0.5 million in her own county, which represents a genuine attempt by the Government to support the development of a cycle network across our country. We are working hard on the Dublin greenway route. The Deputy will receive details of all of the planned investment in her country within the next ten days.

Harbour Authorities

Richard Boyd Barrett

Ceist:

9. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if, in his upcoming Harbours (Amendment) Bill for ports of regional significance, he plans references to "the council" to mean the executives of the relevant council or the elected members of that council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16513/15]

Since 2011 when I was elected to this Dáil I have posed dozens of questions to the Minister and his predecessor about what I believe to be the gross mismanagement that is going on in Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company. I have raised the enormous waste of money on crazy, madcap plans that nobody ever asked for, the latest of which is a plan to mortgage the assets of the harbour to raise €18 million to build a cruise ship berth. There is a complete lack of accountability at Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company.

Now that the harbour company is finally going to move under the control of the local authority, I ask the Minister to assure the House that in the forthcoming Bill dealing with this matter, the company will be under direct council control and will no longer be an unaccountable semi-quango, a law unto itself and a company about which we cannot get any answers. Will he assure us that it will be under direct public control?

The drafting of the Harbours Bill 2015 is almost complete and I will be seeking Government approval very soon to publish the Bill. The Bill will provide the legislative basis to one of the national ports policy's key recommendations, namely that governance of the designated ports of regional significance vest in more appropriate local authority-led governance structures. As the Deputy is aware, the five ports of regional significance are Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow.

The Bill is designed to provide maximum legislative flexibility. It will not prescribe the model of transfer but will allow for the most appropriate model of governance in respect of each individual company to be chosen. The optimal  manner of transfer is one which finds broad consensus and agreement between parties. The actual transfer of the companies will be made under later statutory instrument.

The two models of transfer will be the retention of the existing company structure and a transfer of the Ministerial shareholding in the company; or the dissolution of the existing company structure and transfer of all assets, liabilities and employees into local authority structures. Where the company structure is retained and the shareholding of that company transferred to the local authority, the Bill will provide for the amendment of the existing Harbours Acts to reflect that transfer. Obviously, under this type of transfer there is a need to ensure the appropriate balance between the freedom and requirements of a commercial port and council oversight. The Bill will specify the differing roles of the executive and the elected members of a council in this type of arrangement. As an example, the Bill will contain a section requiring chairpersons and CEOs to appear before the elected members to give an account of their administration of that company if invited to appear by the elected members. Obviously under the other method of transfer, the company is dissolved and the port will be administered as a functional area of a local authority.

I would strongly urge the latter option for Dún Laoghaire. That is the point I am making. I have heard about these two options for quite some time. The harbour company, with its executive and board, needs to be dissolved. There are enormous savings to be made in executive salaries and expenses, some of which were falsely claimed and never repaid, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of euro that have been wasted on crazy master plans that never came to fruition, that nobody ever asked for and that would have been completely inappropriate. Money has been wasted in all sorts of ways, which I do not have time to enumerate now. The company is leeching money out of the harbour. It has run the harbour into the ground, as evidenced by the loss of the Stena Lines ferry service. Now we have another crazy plan, hatched by a so-called "stakeholder group" to mortgage the assets of Dún Laoghaire harbour to the tune of €18 million to build a giant cruise berth for luxury cruise liners. A planning permission application has been submitted but there is no business plan. The People Before Profit Councillor Melisa Halpin asked to see the business plan but there is none.

I can show it to the Minister some time. This is the crazy stuff that is going on. There are no minutes taken by the members of the little cabal that are hatching this plan. We have asked if there are minutes of any of their meetings. They go off on junkets to the United States. There are no minutes.

I will come back to the Deputy. I call the Minister now.

It has to be dissolved.

It is a real pity that the Deputy has to use language such as "cabal" and "leeching" when talking about a group of people who are working within governance structures to secure a future for Dún Laoghaire Harbour. I have already outlined to the Deputy the model under which a port like Dún Laoghaire will be integrated into the local authority. I will take the decision on the manner in which that integration will take place.

I have the greatest respect for the work that the management of Dún Laoghaire Harbour is doing. It has faced many challenges in the past and is looking to create a sustainable plan to develop the port in the future. The way in which that work will be integrated into the local authority will be made in the manner I have just outlined to the Deputy.

I am very serious about this. There is a rebellion taking place in Dún Laoghaire. A public meeting this week was packed. There is overwhelming anger against this plan. Save Our Seafront, a group in which I am involved, is having another meeting tomorrow which, I think, will be absolutely packed. Protests will almost certainly follow because of extraordinary anger at the fact that it is a cabal. What would the Minister call a group of three people who are accountable to nobody, who do not take minutes of meetings, who go off on junkets and who come up with plans that will have a massive effect on the harbour, potentially threatening it with privatisation because it involves mortgaging the assets? They do not take minutes of the meetings and when we ask questions about what they are doing we are told: "We're not giving you the answers." That is what is going on and it is not acceptable.

Let us consider the state of the harbour. It has lost Stena. Hundreds of thousands of euro have been lost on master plans that just dissolved into thin air. It is crazy stuff.

I thank the Deputy.

In the interests of democracy and in the best interests of this important amenity and the Dún Laoghaire area generally, we should dissolve the harbour board and bring it under direct public control where there is real accountability and genuine public input into the plans to develop and protect this harbour as a unique public amenity.

The Deputy's language of describing a group of people as a cabal is unacceptable.

Should I take the Minister to a meeting?

The Minister has the floor.

I am struck that whenever I make a genuine attempt to respond to matters that I accept are of interest, the colour of the Deputy's language intensifies and the pitch of his voice gets higher.

It is because I am annoyed.

These are important matters that need to be dealt with. As I have said in the House already, it is very important that an acceptable and secure plan is developed for the future of Dún Laoghaire Harbour. There is a group of people at the harbour who are working very hard to deliver that. I have outlined how I will deal with its integration in the future. As I have said, regardless of any views on the plan they propose, the Deputy's language is inappropriate in terms of how he is describing them. I will look at the model I have described and I will make a decision on how it is integrated into the local authority.

Deputy Kyne is next because Deputy Jim Daly is not present.

Question No. 10 replied to with Written Answers.

Mountain Rescue Service

Seán Kyne

Ceist:

11. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is aware of the doubling of funding for mountain rescue teams in Northern Ireland in April 2015; if, in the context of the improving financial position of the State, an increase in funding will be considered to support the vital work of mountain rescue teams; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16439/15]

What are the Minister's future plans for mountain rescue funding?

I am aware of the measure announced recently by the Northern Ireland Minister for Justice doubling the funds provided by the Northern Ireland Executive to search and rescue volunteer groups.

My Department recognises and acknowledges the contribution that these voluntary groups make to their communities and to the general public. As the Deputy is aware, my Department, through the Irish Coast Guard administers a grant for mountain rescue teams, and other voluntary search and rescue groups such as the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation, the Search and Rescue Dog Association and 12 individual community rescue boat teams. In 2014 a total of €250,000 was paid in grants to these voluntary organisations. In addition, in 2014 my Department granted a special once-off capital grant of €200,000 to Mountain Rescue Ireland, the all-island overarching body responsible for mountain rescue, for the purchase of vehicles.

As I have previously indicated to the House, MRTs are not tasked directly by the IRCG; rather they are tasked by this Garda Síochána, which comes under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality. While I accept the vital nature of the commitment made by this voluntary group, I believe that budgetary priority must be given to the primary responsibility of providing a marine emergency response service. The IRCG has responsibility to equip and train approximately 918 volunteers from 44 volunteer units around the country. Each unit is subject to operational readiness audits to ensure they are positioned to provide a safe and effective service.

Therefore, with the current and competing pressures among the budgets in my portfolio, I cannot commit to any increase in funding at present. I draw the Deputy's attention to the support we have been able to give in the recent past.

I thank the Minister for his reply. I acknowledge the work of his predecessor and the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, in getting last year's funding. The Minister knows of the great success of the Wild Atlantic Way through his Department and the increase in tourist numbers that has happened as a result. There is huge potential next year for that. I ask the Minister to keep it in mind. They do great work and are always under pressure for finances. I acknowledge the support in the past and whatever can be done in the future by way of additional support would be welcome.

The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, would want to up his game.

I am aware that the volunteers in question do great work. The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, was heavily involved in the matter last year and has a great interest in it.

He has not delivered enough.

As I said a special allocation of €200,000 was made last year as a result of the interest the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, and the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, had in the matter. That money was provided for the purchase of vehicles to allow the work the Deputy has described to be done better.

Written Answers follow Adjournment.
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