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I
want to talk today about the Patton Flyer, which is the magic bus of the
21st century. The Minister may be old enough to remember the song of
that name released by The Who back in 1968. It is an excellent bus
service that carries passengers from Dalkey, Glasthule,
Dún
Laoghaire
and Monkstown to and from
Dublin
Airport. The people of these areas want to see the service retained. I
put this in the context of the Department of Transport's development of
a sustainable transport and travel action plan, one of the purposes of
which is to encourage people to use buses more. This bus serves areas
that have no alternative bus or rail links to the airport. It is a
punctual, well operated service that is invaluable to residents. I used
the service on the one occasion I went to Dublin Airport in the past
year, but many of my constituents use it on a regular basis, not just to
catch flights but because they work at Dublin Airport and want to get
there without driving.
The
bus uses the port tunnel and serves the county town of
Dún
Laoghaire,
which has no other service to the airport. There is the Aircoach
service that goes from Greystones to the airport via Bray, Shankill,
Blackrock, Booterstown and Sandymount, but the Patton Flyer is the only
service that connects Dalkey, Glasthule,
Dún
Laoghaire
and Monkstown with
Dublin Airport. Dublin Bus runs the 4A service, but this starts at
Blackrock and goes to Harristown bus depot, which is adjacent to the
main runway at the airport but is miles from the departure building.
Dún
Laoghaire
has a population of 26,000, which is not far off the population of
Leitrim at 29,000. Imagine if we were to cut Leitrim off from all bus
services. The lack of services to
Dún
Laoghaire
has the same effect of making it difficult for people to travel. The
problem here is the licensing procedure. Operators must wait months for
a licence to be issued and if it is refused they are in contravention of
the legislation. I note that the Department of Transport has referred
the matter to the Garda for non-compliance with the legislation, and the
matter now rests with the Garda. It is a strange that a bus operator
who provides a much-needed service is deemed to be operating illegally.
This is at a time when we are trying to encourage more people to use
buses and public transport to achieve sustainable travel. We are making
it extremely difficult for people to provide these services even though
they have taken a considerable business risk.
I
note that there is another private bus operator in the north
Dublin
area who had to wait two and a half years for a decision on a licence
application. The root cause of this is the outdated 1932 Road Transport
Act under which licences are issued. Under that Act, which dates from
more than three quarters of a century ago, an operator can be fined the
heady sum of £50 for running an unlicensed service, plus £5 per day for
repeat offences. This equates to €7.50 per day. This legislation must
be modernised.
I
carry no brief for Dublin Bus, Aircoach or the Patton Flyer. Today is
not the time to argue about the merits of public and private bus
services. However, I do carry a mandate from the people of
Dún
Laoghaire.
They want a service to the airport that is efficient Dublin Bus does a
good job and has risen to the challenge of providing new routes in
certain areas, but the private sector has provided some excellent new
services and deserves support where it is innovative and responds to
travellers' needs. Let us modernise the legislation, speed up the
processing of applications and have a clear and transparent system. Let
us reform the antiquated legislation and continue to provide a necessary
service via the Patton Flyer to the people of Dalkey, Glasthule,
Dún
Laoghaire
and Monkstown.and reliable and that does the job. |
