Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 January 2017
1616. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the implications for County Sligo of the cuts to the expressway service as proposed in the Grant Thornton report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1874/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra1617. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the implications for County Leitrim of the cuts to the expressway service as proposed in the Grant Thornton report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1875/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1616 and 1617 together.
Bus Éireann is currently losing a substantial amount of money on its commercial Expressway services. These losses amount to approximately €6 million per annum with no improvement forecast. It is obvious that Bus Éireann cannot sustain the type of losses it is currently suffering.
This is not an issue of Exchequer funding. The Expressway service operated by Bus Éireann is fully commercial and receives no Exchequer funding. The vast majority of Bus Éireann routes and passengers are on Exchequer subvented PSO routes and that subvention increased last year with Budget 2017 providing a further 11% increase in the subvention money available to operators generally.
The preparation of strategic plans and/or business plans is a responsibility of the Board of any relevant State owned company and as such Bus Éireann must develop a satisfactory and viable plan in consultation with its parent company CIÉ. To that end, Bus Éireann has commissioned Grant Thornton to review previously developed proposals and I understand that review is now complete.
I am firmly of the belief that difficult issues such as this can only be resolved through open, constructive and realistic engagement between the company and its employees and I encourage both sides to engage constructively on the matter.
I am of course aware of concerns expressed in parts of rural Ireland in relation to Bus Éireann's services. In the event of any reconfiguration of existing services, the National Transport Authority has made it clear that it will work with local communities to maintain an appropriate level of public transport connectivity.
