Gavin Mendel-Gleason
Workers’ Party representative in Dublin Northwest, Gavin Mendel-Gleason, said:
“NTA CEO Ann Graham has said that privatising these routes will lead to a higher quality bus service. And yet, when we look at the criteria against which the NTA selected the winning operator, we find that costs were given a 65%, compared with just 35% for quality.
“Trade union recognition and wages are completely ignored by the deal between the NTA and Go Ahead. Clearly, Go Ahead’s cost estimations assume they can slash workers’ wages.”
Mendel-Gleason said that a company with Go-Ahead’s record could never have won the tender, if quality of service were given a higher weighting, saying:
“Go Ahead’s sister rail sister company Southern Trains was voted the worst rail operator in the UK last year, due to it’s appalling level of service on commuter routes operating south of London.
“And yet, here they are, winning contracts left, right and centre in Ireland. The NTA’s tendering process is not a level playing field. State providers are effectively disqualified because they pay their workers a decent wage, with no regard for the quality service they provide.”
Mendel-Gleason concluded by calling for the abolition of the NTA, saying:
“The NTA has proved itself to be a vehicle for privatisation and nothing more. It should be abolished and its functions taken over by the CIÉ holding company.
Its only purpose is to privatise the public transport system here, regardless of the consequences for commuters and workers in the industry.”