asked the Minister for Justice the steps which are being taken by the Garda to deal with the problems of crime and vandalism on Dublin buses; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

106.

asked the Minister for Justice the plans he has to increase Garda surveillance of trouble on bus routes in the cities of Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Waterford and Galway in the weeks leading up to and after Christmas.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 106 together.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the problem of assaults and vandalism on bus routes does not arise to any significant extent in the cities of Cork, Limerick, Waterford or Galway but occurs primarily in the Dublin area where it continues to receive special attention. The Garda and Dublin Bus officials have been co-operating closely in this matter for some time. Since October of last year a number of measures have been taken to deal with the problem. Most of these measures have been outlined to the House on a number of occasions previously. They include intensified patrolling of known trouble spots by uniformed gardaí, assigning gardaí to travel on buses, as appropriate and the provision of mobile patrols, including joint Garda/Dublin Bus patrols, to escort certain buses on selected routes. More recently Dublin Bus have taken some further measures, including the fitting of buses with closed circuit television for the purposes of surveillance and detection of criminal activity. I also understand that Dublin Bus are considering the introduction of a new ticketing system which should alleviate greatly the risks associated with cash handling.

The Garda authorities are satisfied that the measures being taken are proving effective and there has been a pronounced decrease in incidents on buses involving assault — there were about 25 such incidents in the period of six months or so up to October 1989 as compared with about 100 in the immediately preceding corresponding period. There were three such incidents in November this year as compared with eight in November 1988.

Since October 1988 proceedings have been instituted against some 229 persons for offences relating to incidents on buses.

The Garda authorities will, of course, continue to monitor the situation, particularly in the weeks around Christmas and will continue to maintain close co-operation with Dublin Bus with a view to taking whatever action may be approrpriate to further alleviate the problem.

I welcome the Minister's response to the extent that it shows a decrease in attacks on workers employed by Dublin Bus; nonetheless it has not brought the service back to normality in the Minister's own constituency. Would the Minister accept that a single bus operator having to contend with late night revellers, a double deck array of passengers and the collection of ticket money is a recipe that will always spell trouble for that operator? Would the Minister agree that he would be well counselled to direct Dublin Bus to cease the practice of passengers paying for tickets aboard, rather all passengers being expected to carry pre-paid tickets?

I believe that would be particularly helpful. As I said in my reply, measures are being taken to consider the possibility of doing that on a wider basis.

I am sorry I did not observe Deputy Allen. He has a question tabled on this subject.

Yes, Question No. 106, but the Minister's reply referred to discussions with Dublin Bus——

I wondered where Question No. 106 was; it is not on my Order Paper.

After No. 105.

It was down for written reply. The Minister did not refer at all to discussions between the Garda and Bus Éireann. Would he initiate discussions between the organisation responsible for the bus service in other cities? I would support the concept put forward by Deputy McCartan — that after a certain hour in the evenings pre-paid tickets should be the only collection system used, especially in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Would the Minister initiate discussions with Bus Éireann to have that system established?

Certainly I would agree with the Deputy. As I said in my reply, Dublin Bus are considering the introduction of a new ticketing system which would alleviate these problems. I will also bring the matter to the attention of Bus Éireann because of the Deputy's concern about Cork and other major cities.

As a matter of urgency, would the Minister consult with Dublin Bus, because I must point out to him that the proposals of Dublin Bus are to improve on the money collection system on buses, that they are not investing their money in pre-paid systems? Would the Minister examine that possibility? Would he also agree that the handling of a double decker bus is particularly difficult for the single person operator, it being impossible for the driver to know or police what is going on upstairs, particularly late in the evening, which is something that must be examined?