Sell-off of Bus Éireann’s expressway service proposed

CUTS of more than €127 million in the transport sector have been proposed by An Bord Snip Nua as the report left virtually no area untouched.

The report recommends a number of one-off measures in a bid to cut costs, including the sale of the Bus Éireann expressway service and the disposal of non-essential land and property owned by state agencies under the aegis of the Department of Transport.

The report proposes that CIÉ reduce its annual operation costs in order to achieve savings of €55m through reduced public service obligation payments (PSO), which are non-commercial, socially-necessary services which are subvented by the Government.

Spokesperson for CIÉ, Barry Kenny, said the company was committed to achieving cost reduction across the company.

“We all have to engage in trying to achieve cost reductions and within CIÉ we are doing that.

“The closure of lightly-used railway lines has been put forward as a method of reducing operating costs,” he said.

The report also recommends that PSO payments and operational grants for regional airports be stopped as the exchequer is also funding improved rail and road links to the same locations in a move that is aimed at achieving savings of €17m.

However, Aer Arann, which runs the majority of PSO routes in Ireland, has called on the Government to reject the recommendation that the routes be discontinued and said the move would cost more money than it would save.

“The PSO routes support a vital part of the country’s infrastructure and sustain hundreds of jobs directly and indirectly in the regions.

“They are also a key part of the socio-economic fabric of life in the regions and the removal of accessible air transport will disadvantage many thousands of people from the north-west and all along the western seaboard to the south-west,” a statement from the airline read.

The report also recommends a reduction of €20m on expenditure on roads maintenance and improvements as well as a reduction of €4.2m in the allocation for the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

The An Bord Snip Nua report also proposed that the National Vehicle and Driver File be merged with the RSA.