Plan to cut public transport services criticised by Opposition

Plans to cuts public transport services have been criticised by opposition parties as the Government warned CIÉ was facing continuing losses in 2009.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said this morning that losses at the CIÉ group of companies – which includes Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann – could reach €90 million this year, despite State subsidies of more than €313 million.

Dublin Bus is reported to be planning to reduce its fleet by more than 100 buses, with job cuts in its 3,500-strong workforce also proposed.

Passenger journeys fell by 4 to 5 per cent last year, with further decreases expected in 2009.

Fine Gael has vowed to oppose any cuts to Dublin Bus services, describing the city as one of the most poorly-served in Europe with regard to public transport, and warning that congestion was bringing Dublin to a halt, while Labour said the proposed cuts were a "retrograde step".

Mr Dempsey said the Dublin Bus network had not been revised for some time, and that this was an opportunity to do that.

"It is a fact that passenger numbers are down. That's because there's a recession, that's because there are less shoppers coming into the city, there's less workers. What I want to see Bus Éireann, Bus Átha Cliath doing, what I want to see CIÉ doing is focusing on the reality that we have at the moment and trying to attract more passengers and more customers on to their services," Mr Dempsey told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

"If they do that obviously they create a larger stream of income. At the end of this year I want CIÉ to have more passengers carried than they did in the past year. I want to stop the passenger numbers falling, and that means that changes will have be made within the company."

However, Fine Gael's transport spokesman Paschal Donohoe said the Minister's failure to oversee financial reforms within Dublin Bus meant passengers would bear the brunt of the cutbacks.

"Minister Dempsey and a succession of Fianna Fáil transport ministers are responsible for the fact that Dublin commuters are almost entirely dependant on Dublin Bus services. For years Fianna Fáil has bowed to vested interests and kept private operators out of the market," he said.

"These operators could be in a position to step into the breech but now it is the everyday commuter that will suffer from reduced services due the lack of political leadership by Fianna Fáil."

Mr Donohoe called for the private operators to be permitted to take on the routes cut by Dublin Bus. He claimed the cutbacks could force commuters back into their cars, adding to the city's traffic problem.

"Cutting the Dublin Bus fleet by 10 per cent will see cutbacks in routes and services, leaving commuters and passengers high and dry. These routes and services should be opened up to the private sector," he said.

Mr Donohoe urged the Minister to begin a review of Dublin Bus, including a management overhaul; sell off unused assets such as the withdrawn buses; and to clarify the future of projects such as Metro North and the Dublin Transport Authority.

Labour Party spokesman on transport Tommy Broughan said the potential cutbacks were a "dismal prospect" for commuters, and a "retrograde step".

"Astonishingly, these proposals come just a few months after the all party Dáil Transport Committee recommended to Minister Dempsey and his colleagues that the Dublin Bus fleet be expanded by 350 buses, with significantly increased frequencies on routes and new orbital routes to provide more choice and reliability for commuters," he said.

Mr Broughan said the cutbacks made no sense to cut essential services in the current economic climate, and called on the Minister to reverse his decision.

"Cutbacks of this magnitude are totally at odds with national transport, environment and climate change policies of getting commuters out of their cars and into public transport in order to reduce transport greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

"It is particularly disappointing that the Green ministers appear prepared to stand by and support this grotesque attack on essential bus services in the Dublin region."