The only solution is to cut the pay of the bloated public sector. These people receive salaries of up to €70K per annum – significantly higher than the Eurozone average.

@rob- by ‘these people’ I presume you mean bus drivers? Is that 70k for a 40 hour 9 to 5 is it? Hold on there……..Just did a google and in average it’s actually 33k. Which when you take into account working the nitelink to clondalkin and tallaght would be included in there, that’s pretty fair. I’d want the 33k just in danger money! Just joking sort of.

@ Rob – at least they pay tax. I don’t think you can voice an opinion on any issue relating to government, hypocrit.

Rob has admitted not paying tax – his opinions are irrelevant and deserve nothing but contempt.

exactly the same as it’s working in the health insurance market….

Eoin, rail was always a luxary form of transport (although in Ireland you wouldn’t think it). Hence the higher prices, CIE target a different demographic to use their rail service over bus. While that’s normally fine, it annoys me that even with the high prices they make a loss and the tax payer has to bail them out each year.

I do wish that the Irish government did not nationalise the rail in the 1950s.

Is that agricultural diesel or are you driving a moped? We spent nearly €80 on petrol in a tiny rental car Dublin Cork and back a few months ago

Book ahead by 3 days and the Dublin Cork train is only 30 euro return. Last minute fares cost more, but that’s the same as airlines as well.

Irish Rail aren’t competing with flying but with cars, where a last-minute trip costs the same.

The same company running rail and bus, I don’t know what idiot allowed that to happen. Split CIE up so they have to actually compete with each other. Ideally privatise it and let the market decide.

It is much cheaper to drive than to use the train, even with early booking, unless you’re only going from city centre to city centre. Otherwise you’ll have to get a taxi or rental car or further public transport costs to get to your destination.

Exactly, the days of free travel should be over. Diesel is just too expensive.

Exactly, the days of free travel are long gone. Everyone must contribute to the services they use. Fuel is just too expensive..

It is means tested but some people seem to be able to get it all.I would agree that there should be some contribution to the fare from peole with the pass. It is wrong to increase the fare when people are already struggling. Everytime it is the working person that is screwed.It has reached a situation that everyone pass or not should contribute to the bus fare in some form.

Excellent suggestion, if i were Minister for transport, I’d have tolls on footpaths, feet are a form of transport, why should they be exempt. Now I’m off to draw up the plans for my new polltax for the homeless

I gave you a thumbs up just to prove you wrong

Germans would say we have one small city and a few large towns, and simply increase the speed limits on the motorways with proper police enforcement to match.

Public transport in Dubai is embarrisingly cheap…….what’s your point

And 7000 buses doing the city centre/student route and 1 an hour that’s always late for the others!

You’re out after the next election. Good riddance to FG-LAB-FF.

Well as long as yee lot are vexing yer rage at the enter button on this forum, we’ll be allright. Don’t you know know we’ll still be rich no matter who gets in, and who’ll still pay, congratulations, you win.

I agree in principle but the problem is privatizing will result in higher fares. To the private sector, it’s a monopoly.

Privatising is fine if you’re in or around the city centre but if you’re away from main already under-served routes, then you better buy granny a good pair of walking shoes this Xmas.

@ Rob – maybe we can tell them all to stop paying tax, that should bring the fares down. You’d know all about that, why don’t you apply for an advisory job there.

CIE is a public monopoly, whenever a private company tries to compete with a better service or new route CIE scrambles to saturate that route and drive out the competition. If a private company did this it would be in court. Shane Ross has an on going series of articles on CIE and how muddy that organisation is, with zero transparency for the tax payer.

@Rob – CIE is already a state monopoly that makes massives losses each year that the tax payer must cover. If the Irish tax payer keeps giving it a blank cheque each year they’ll never be efficient – what’s the incentive? If the bloat was cut fares may not have to increase too much.

@Scarr – You won’t like this comment, but maybe if your granny paid to travel on public transport we could afford to keep the route. The time of free public transport for OAPs needs to be looked at, as a country we can’t afford it.

@joe – I don’t mind that comment at all. I don’t see anything wrong with granny having a free bus pass, it’s the bus pass recipients onthe periphery that bother me more. I’m not opposed to privatising necessarily, but it cannot be a case that all the plum routes are saturated and then everything else be ones busless. Tenders should be done on existing routes and best tender wins. Simple enough. There’s nothing stopping 1,2 or 3 operators having the same route.

Leo Varadkar spoke very differently in opposition. From the speech he gave on a FG Private Members motion from December 2010 on Consumer issues when in opposition:

“The Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey has agreed to a 5% increase in bus and train fares to assist CIE in meeting the costs of the pay deal and the fall-off in fares due to recession and emigration. CIE should not increase fares. They should follow the example of the broader economy by cutting costs and cutting fares to increase custom. Luas fares will increase by 4.1%.”
http://www.leovaradkar.ie/?p=252#more-252

Joe wrote: ” whenever a private company tries to compete with a better service or new route CIE scrambles to saturate that route and drive out the competition”

Really??? That’s why a private company is ALWAYS charges higher fares on the same route? It’s called corporate greed. I’d much rather have a regulated public transport system than a greedy private company.

Cllr David McGuinness,

You are trying to shill this stuff for the next election. You are merely talking your book. Fianna Fail bankrupted this country by tying our fate to doomed banks. You never invested in a viable public transport system. The results are now coming home to roost.

Nah biy,

We just don’t have the money.

Or maybe we’ll concentrate on aggressive prosecution of tax evaders instead

Who gets high salaries in CIE?

People like you (people with travel passes) should have to pay as well. CIE needs revenue, and people with passes should be targeted.