Ahern challenged over Dublin Bus numbers

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern officially opened the first new bus station in Dublin for 30 years yesterday, amid a continuing dispute over the provision of new buses for the city.

Rejecting suggestions that Dublin Bus had been deprived of 150 new buses promised under the National Development Plan, Mr Ahern said huge investment had allowed the company expand the fleet by 10 per cent in recent years while also spending €42 million on the new station at Harristown.

The bus station was, the Taoiseach said, ahead of schedule and on budget and the company now provided 150 million passenger journeys a year.

Dr John Lynch, chairman of the transport holding company, CIÉ, and Dublin Bus, said it simply was not true that no new buses had been provided.

There were 500 new buses provided between 1999 and 2004 and while he conceded that some of these were buses bought to replace those taken out of service due to age, some 130 were new.

However, Fine Gael transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell distributed copies of a Dáil reply from Minister for Transport Martin Cullen which showed the size of the fleet remained at 1,062 buses from 2001 to 2004.

The replies also said that under the National Development Plan the company was due to receive 80 buses in 2003 and 70 new buses in 2004.

Questioned on the apparent disparity, Mr Ahern said money for new buses was available but would have to await the outcome of negotiations between management and unions about the future of the company.

Among the issues facing the company were the redistribution of 30 to 40 buses which had become available from routes with declining passenger numbers, he said.

These buses would have to be redistributed and the negotiations with the unions concluded before new buses were bought, Mr Ahern said.

Calls for more buses to be urgently bought were also made by Green Party TD Paul Gogarty and Labour Party Senator Derek McDowell.