Madam, – There is no doubt that Dublin Bus has long required radical reform both to attract new customers and survive an economic downturn.
But the proposed cutbacks from CIÉ management will set Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann services back by years, exactly at a time when we should be trying to get more people on to public transport. Any claims that existing services will be maintained with fewer personnel, fewer buses and fewer resources are nothing more than spin.
The response from the Government partners is equally depressing.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey shrugs off any responsibility for State companies and agencies under his department. It appears that the Government, along with the Dáil, has lost any accountability for State services. Meanwhile, Green Party Cabinet Ministers have demanded nothing from their Fianna Fáil friends in Government.
Instead, the Green Party puts out its backbench TD, Ciarán Cuffe (January 22nd) to propose vague reforms for Dublin Bus, while trying to convince its own supporters that it can still make a difference in government.
Fine Gael has remained consistent in its views of what is needed in the Dublin bus market. The Government should have allowed private operators a significant share of bus services in Dublin years ago.
If the Government had shown any backbone, the public would now be enjoying more bus companies, running more buses, more frequently on more routes.
Instead, the Government allowed Dublin Bus to retain its monopoly, and forced commuters to rely on CIÉ, which now wants to slash services at the first sign of financial difficulty.
It is clear that Fianna Fáil and the Green Party are unwilling to promote the commuters' interests in government.
Fine Gael in government will reorganise the public transport market in Ireland in order to get as many public transport vehicles on the road as possible. – Yours, etc,
FERGUS O'DOWD,
Fine Gael Spokesman on
Transport,
Dáil Éireann,
Dublin 2.
Madam, – Ciarán Cuffe, (January 22nd) wrote about the need for Dublin Bus reform at the same time as the Government he supports is rowing back on the need for a relevant and focused Dublin Transport Authority. Last year, the Minister for Transport finally pushed through legislation establishing such an authority. Yet we learned recently (
Irish Times, January 14th) that before it is even established, the DTA is going to be subsumed into a new National Transport Authority and the Dublin regional focus is to be abandoned.
Such a move would be a disaster.
For many years, along with others, I had advocated such an authority with a powerful and integrated mandate. Despite reservations, I welcomed the commitment in the Fianna Fáil/Green Programme that such an authority with the necessary powers would be established.
Dublin needs a Dublin Transportation Authority. A reduced focus would be a major blow to the proper development of the Greater Dublin Area. It would also represent a major defeat of, or a betrayal by, the Green Party, of their supposed commitment to real integrated planning and transport. It would be better to have no Transport Authority than for the travesty of proposals that are now emerging from the department and Minister to come about. Shamefully, the new proposals still leave all power in the hands of those responsible for the current mess, provide for no democratic accountability and fly in the face of everything that Dublin needs.
The pretence that the authority will be accountable to the Oireachtas is perhaps the most cynical claim of all.
"Transport for London" works because it has a democratic mandate to make the tough decisions and is not beholden to vested interests. Londoners accept tough decisions because they determine who will lead and control TfL. The proposed Transport Authority – whether its title is National or Dublin – will have no such mandate. Contrary to the Minister's assertion it will indeed be a "HSE on Wheels". – Yours, etc,
Cllr DERMOT LACEY,
Labour Party,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.