Sir, – Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe tells us that plans to tender 10 per cent of routes run currently by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann is in the interest of "improved bus services" and that support for same "should be given in conjunction with a degree of competitive tension in the market" (News, April 1st).
Like most trumpeters of the efficiency that they claim always comes with privatisation as opposed to sluggish public service some finer, inconvenient details are left unmentioned. This is because history shows that in a great many situations such as this, privatisation, rather than being the panacea of fiscal responsibility that officialdom constantly tries to convince the populace of, actually ends up costing the tax payer more money via subsidies.
A classic case in point involves the privatisation of the former British Rail in 1993. A TUC-commissioned report from the University of Manchester in 2013 showed that Britain’s five largest private train companies received almost £3 billion in taxpayer support between 2007 and 2011, allowing them make operating profits of £504 million, over 90 per cent of which was paid out in dividends to shareholders.
The report concluded that Britain now has some of the oldest rolling stock coupled with some of the highest fares in Europe. So much for “competitive tension” in this case. – Yours, etc, JD MANGAN Stillorgan, Co Dublin.