Bus services are operating under regulations designed in 1932, writes Liam Reid, Political Reporter.
Whatever the perspective - be it Government, union, or commuter - almost everybody agrees the Irish bus sector is badly in need of reform.
Despite the bus being the workhorse of the transport system in Ireland, the market and the way it is regulated, has changed little in 73 years.
It is marked by limited competition and dominated by the CIÉ companies of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, which are heavily subsidised by the State.
With only a trickle of routes made available by the Government since the late 1990s, private operators have found it difficult, if not impossible, to find routes to operate.
Meanwhile, the Government has withheld funding from Dublin Bus for 150 buses to operate new routes in the absence of an overall deal on the bus sector. Funding for new buses for Bus Éireann has also been withheld. This effective stagnation of the bus sector comes at a time when demand for increased and new services is unprecedented.
With population growth of more than 30 per cent predicted in some parts of the country by 2015, increasing traffic gridlock, and the fact that rail projects take years to deliver, buses are the only immediate transport solution for many beleaguered commuters.
Since the late 1990s there have been consistent attempts to introduce reform in the bus sector, all of which have foundered in the wake of union opposition and Government inaction.
In late 2002, the then minister for transport, Séamus Brennan, announced plans for a radical overhaul of the sector, proposing the privatisation of a quarter of all bus routes in Dublin. The plans were bitterly opposed by trade unions, who immediately mounted a campaign against the privatisation plans.
Relations between the bus unions, the NBRU and Siptu, and the Department of Transport deteriorated throughout 2003, culminating in 2004 with a four-hour bus stoppage in protest at the plans.
Further strike action planned for July last year was narrowly averted after the department agreed to hold intensive negotiations on privatisation, and effectively backed down on plans to privatise 25 per cent of Dublin Bus, while unions indicated they were open to some form of privatisation.
Two months later Mr Brennan had been replaced by Martin Cullen as Minister for Transport, who went back to the drawing board on proposed reforms.
The key to the problem is that bus services are operating in 2005 under regulations designed in 1932. The 1932 Road Transportation Act was introduced with the aim of protecting the railways from the large number of private bus operators who cropped up in the first decade of the Free State.
Under the legislation, the bus market is controlled by the Department of Transport, which also controls CIÉ. It means the department is not only the regulator, but the operator too.
It also has a limited ability to sanction any bus operator for failing to adhere to routes or timetables, with maximum fines of less than €200 for breaches of a bus operator's licence.
Discussions between the unions, the department, Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and the private operators on reform restarted earlier this year.
It is believed that most of the contentious issues have been dealt with. Assurances have been given by the Government that the CIÉ companies will not be privatised or downsized, while the unions have been open to the introduction of competition between companies for licences to operate new routes. The discussions are now focused on the detail. Current proposals being examined provide for the regulator to police and issue all new bus licences in the future, and oversee the tender process for each route. It is also envisaged that the regulator would decide on whether a subsidy is needed on a particular route. The regulator would also police all operators, including Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. The new transport commissioner would also be able to prosecute or fine operators who are found to be in breach of their licences through failing to adhere to timetables or routes.
In the interim before the establishment of the regulator, the department has proposed that a certain proportion of new routes in Dublin be given to private operators.
It comes in the context of a major review underway by Dublin Bus to identify new bus routes. A study it commissioned from DKM Consultants shows population growth rates of up to 32 per cent in some regions of the city, such as Blanchardstown, over the coming decade, which can only be serviced by buses or private cars at the moment.
Union sources indicated that a full deal was some way off but Minister for Transport Martin Cullen is anxious to reach agreement by the autumn.