Labour welcomes Dublin Bus u-turn

The Labour Party are welcoming Dublin Bus' decision to reduce a number of bus fares which had been increased over the sanctioned 9%.

The increase came into effect on Monday December 2, and some of the increases were effectively a mark up of 15%.

The Minister for transport, Seamus Brennan, had only given the green light for an across-the-board increase of 9%.

But Dublin Bus rationalised the move by claiming that, while fares on many well-trodden routes had gone up more than the sanctioned percentage, many other fares were only increased by between 2 and 7%.

Labour Party Transport spokespers Roisin Shorthall said: "While I have every sympathy with the financial difficulties facing Dublin Bus as a result of the totally inadequate subvention they recieve from Central Government, the decision to impose a range of increases in excess of the 9% level sanctioned by the Minister was an unfair and an unjustified imposition on commuters."