Varadkar witholds CIÉ subvention

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has said he will not hand over an extra €36 million to CIÉ until the company deals with its cost overruns.

Mr Varadkar said he could not “in clear conscience” hand over the money until the CIÉ companies and the unions “do their bit”.

He said CIÉ had to dispose of assets, find new credit facilities and broker a new agreement with the bus unions to deal with cost over-runs but there had been “very little progress” since the summer in relation to that.

Mr Varadkar and the Minister of State for Transport Alan Kelly met with the chairs of the CIÉ companies yesterday to see what was being done to bridge the gap. The companies involved are Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus who have all been hit badly by the recession.

The extra subvention was approved in July to ensure that CIÉ was adequately funded for the future, but Mr Varadkar has not handed over the money because of the lack of progress.

Speaking at the launch of Dublin Bus’s new fleet of 80 buses costing €26 million, Mr Varadkar said he was determined not to let the public transport system collapse. “The money is there to keep the public transport system going. I can’t have the companies coming back every three or four months looking for more,” he said.

“We need to have agreements from the bus unions, the rail unions have already agreed to a deal. We also need to have a speeding up of the promised asset sales and credit facilities.

“I can’t agree on any changes to terms and conditions on any of those fronts since the summer and I can’t in clear conscience hand over additional taxpayers’ money until the companies and the union do their bit too.”

The 80 buses will be low-floor wheelchair accessible, will have free wi-fi, and will have 10 CCTV cameras in operation.

In addition there will be dedicated spaces for wheelchair users and people with buggies.