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10

2019 Despite Passenger Growth, Taoiseach Welcomes Hearings Into
Bidding On National Broadband Plan
22nd, Profits Down Almost 30% The Taoiseach has said

May he would welcome an
Oireachtas committee hear-
| At Ryanair ing into the National
Broadband Plan bidding
EXAMINER process. for the
Fianna Fáil yesterday
called

IRISH C o m m u n i c a t i o n s
Committee to hold an
investigation into the ten-
dering process behind the
€5bn plan.
The Government gave the go-ahead to the project last week,
despite warnings from senior officials in the Department of
Expenditure that the plan posed unprecedented risk to the tax-
payer.
It aims to deliver the roll-out of high-speed broadband to
more than 540,000 homes and business across the country in the
next seven years.
Mr Varadkar told the Dáil: “I would absolutely welcome
hearings being held by the joint Oireachtas committee. I’d have
yanair’s full year prof- cial year ending in 2020 – €750m if RPP rises 2%, up to no objection to that whatsoever.”
its have fallen 29% to when their reporting will €950m if RPP rises 4%. But he said any inquiry should have a “reasonable time
R€1.02bn, the company include Lauda in the consoli- “This guidance is heavily frame” and that the terms of reference would need to be agreed
said. dated Ryanair Group – but dependent on close-in peak by the major parties.
The company saw traffic this is dependent on “no nega- summer fares, H2 prices, the The Taoiseach made the remarks during Leaders’ Questions
growth of 7% and a decline in tive Brexit developments”. absence of security events, today.
fares of 6% in the year to We continue to have and no negative Brexit devel- He said the government had been “very transparent” about
March 31 2019. utmost confidence in these opments. the plan, releasing advice from officials in the department of
Revenues at the low-cost aircraft The company also said it expenditure and the department of communications as well as
airline grew 6% to €7.56bn The company said: had delayed the delivery of independent analysis by firms such as KPMG and PwC.
over the same period. “Assuming revenue per pas- five Boeing 737-Max aircraft He added that the Government had made the decision to
Michael O’Leary, chief senger (RPP) growth of 3%, until winter – with no mean- publish the documents rather than have information come out
executive of Ryanair, said he we are guiding broadly flat ingful cost benefit from the in a “drip, drip” manner at a later date through Freedom of
is expecting “broadly flat Group profits. delivery expected until the Information requests.
group profits” into the finan- “This will range from financial year ending in 2021. Asked by Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin what projects
It said: “We continue to
Passenger Numbers Rise By have utmost confidence in would have to be shelved over the next three years to facilitate
rural broadband, Mr Varadkar admitted there would be a budg-
Over 6% For Bus Éireann these aircraft which have 4% etary impact as a result of the plan.

Bus Éireann’s passenger numbers are at a 10 year high. more seats, are 16% more fuel “There will be no budgetary impact in 2019 and a very mini-
efficient and generate 40%
The company said it carried more than 83 million passengers lower noise emissions.” mal budgetary impact on 2020 in fact possibly none….There will
in the last year, an increase of 6.3%. Two Boeing 737-Max air- be a budgetary impact from 2021 onwards,” he said.
The transport operator stated that the figure rises to 13.2% in craft crashes – one in Ethiopia He said Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will outline in the
the regional cities, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. in March and another in Summer Economic Statement in the next couple of weeks how
It has also turned its finances around seeing an operating prof- Indonesia in October – killed the funding will be provided.
it of €1.6m. 346 people, leading to the air- Mr Martin said Mr Varadkar had belatedly asked the opposi-
The company announced that 102 new buses will be intro- craft being temporarily tion yesterday to back the government’s position on the plan in
duced countrywide in 2019 in a near €35m investment. grounded. “full electioneering mode and with little genuine regard for the
Double deckers are to be introduced in Cork city, Galway and Michael O’Leary, chief legitimate concerns that people have in relation to the govern-
Limerick with the new fleet providing on-board Wi‐Fi and USB executive of Ryanair, said: “As ment’s decision.”
charging points at each seat. previously guided, Ryanair He said the public are annoyed and frustrated by the delays to
Bus Éireann also said their recruitment campaign received (excluding Austrian low-cost date and increasingly angry at the government’s “cavalier
2,000 applications and resulted in 250 new drivers joining the airline Lauda) reports a full approach” to the matter.
company. year after tax profit of “You declared it yesterday to be an expensive and ambitious
They had 22 successful candidates in the company’s training €1.02bn. plan, Taoiseach.
program for apprentices last year. “Short-haul capacity “But, Taoiseach, I would remind you it is not your money, it
“We have had a difficult couple of years but since 2017 we growth and the absence of is the taxpayers’ money,” Mr Martin said.
introduced one of the most ambitious business transformation Easter in Q4 led to a 6% fare “And you are electioneering and playing politics with large
programs ever implemented by a State company,” said Aidan decline, which stimulated 7% sums of taxpayers’ money.”
Murphy, Chair of the Bus Éireann Board. traffic growth to over €139m. Mr Varadkar denied the accusations.
“Since accepting the Labor Court recommendation in June “Ancillary sales performed “There is no electioneering going on here when it comes to
2017, and with the support of our staff, we have rebuilt our strongly up 19% to €2.4bn, this issue,” he said.
finances and refocused our efforts and resources on delivering which drove total revenue He added: “This is politics from your side, in my view, when
excellent standards for our customers who rely on the thousands growth of 6% to €7.6bn.” it comes to timing.”
of services we provide every day throughout the country.” The board of the company But he told the Dáil he understood any “reasoned and consid-
Anne Graham, Chief Executive Officer at the National has also approved a €700m ered concerns” members of the opposition may have about the
Transport Authority said the investment “will enable the compa- share buyback which will project because he said he had concerns initially about the plan.
ny to continue to increase its passenger numbers and to provide commence later this week He repeated his request to the opposition parties “not to rush
a viable alternative to car usage for people all over Ireland.”C to conclusion” on the plan. C
and run over the next year. C