As the Taoiseach will be aware, the national development plan promised 275 additional buses for Dublin Bus over and above those necessary to replace decommissioned vehicles. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, told Deputy Mitchell in the House on 3 February that in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 Dublin Bus had 1,062 buses. Yesterday the Taoiseach described those figures as gobbledegook, yet they were given to the Dáil by his Minister for Transport less than two months ago. In the report published yesterday, Dublin Bus pointed out that commuters in the rapidly growing suburbs of greater Dublin are facing even longer journey times. As the Taoiseach will know, commuters in towns such as Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth, Kildare, Dunboyne and Ashbourne who want to switch from cars to public transport now find that impossible.

Perhaps we might have an explanation from the Taoiseach as to why commuters and those who wish to avail themselves of public services and transport have been let down by another broken promise. Why is there a serious discrepancy between the figures announced by the Minister to the Dáil and what the national development programme envisaged? What is the point of introducing additional bus lanes if there are no new buses to use them? Is that not another example of statements being made by the Government that it cannot honour and the Taoiseach's calculations and mathematics bringing us to a new low or new high, depending on how one wishes to view matters?

The Government is certainly not abandoning its commitment to provide additional buses under the national development plan. Funding for over 300 new buses has been made available in the last five years, and there are now over 1,000 buses in the service of Dublin Bus. We are continuing to invest in Dublin Bus, whose annual subvention is now €60 million.

The issue, as has been pointed out by Dublin Bus management, is that the success of Luas has taken many people out of cars but also buses. That has meant that there are 30 or more buses available for use elsewhere in the city, according to Dublin Bus figures, as the management told me yesterday. It had previously stated that publicly. Spare capacity is likely to increase when the very substantial upgrade to the capacity of the DART is complete. Such spare capacity should of course be used before any decision is made on where the new buses are to go.

Dublin Bus has applied for funding for 40 additional buses, and the potential impact on demand for buses of the arrival of Luas was discussed with the company. It has not put in any additional funding for 2005; its figure was for last year. The Department of Transport asked the Dublin Transportation Office some time ago to carry out a bus network review, which will highlight the additional investment required for the bus fleet. Ministers made it clear that when that and certain other reform issues, which are ongoing and on which a great deal of progress has been made, have been cleared, they will be able to deal with the question. The idea that we should add additional buses on to a fleet when agreement has not been reached on the routes of buses not being used is ridiculous. I hope those discussions can be concluded at an early date.

I bring to the Taoiseach's attention an e-mail I received from Dublin Bus on 2 December last year. It clearly states:

The NDP (2000 to 2006) funded additional buses for Dublin Bus as follows: 2000, 93 buses; 2001, 0 buses; 2002, 0 buses; 2003, 0 buses; 2004, 0 buses.

The national development plan for 2004 proposes funding for 80 additional buses for 2005 and 102 additional buses for 2006. Will the Taoiseach confirm that it takes 12 months to bring a bus on to the street from the date of order? Are there more buses on the streets now than there were this time last year? Will the Taoiseach confirm also, in respect of the national development programme, which he launched with great fanfare, that there will be 80 additional buses on the streets for 2005 and 102 for 2006, given that it takes 12 months for this Government to get a bus on the road from the time it is ordered? I do not know the extent of the Taoiseach's canvassing——

The Deputy's time has concluded.

——but the frustration people feel sitting in endless traffic jams must be appreciated before he can understand what is happening on the streets of towns and villages. The Taoiseach's programme has let them down again——

Deputy, you had one minute to ask a supplementary question. You have already used two minutes. I ask you to give way to the Taoiseach.

May we have an answer to these questions? Will there be 80 and 102 additional buses for 2005 and 2006?

Will it be like the 2,000 extra gardaí?

They are on the way too.

They will probably be mini-buses.

This is Deputy Kenny's question. Only he is entitled to ask a supplementary.

Not alone are there more buses, there are 1,000 buses. Over 300 buses have been changed. Obviously, some of those are replacement buses. On Dublin Bus figures, they have 30 buses, the change of routes of which they have not yet agreed. They have to also agree some of their other reform issues. They have been told by the Department that when those issues are addressed there will be agreement on the required additional buses. That is what the review is concerned with. They have not put in an application for any additional buses in 2005. They requested 40 buses before the Luas was set up last year. They have stated that the effect of that was to take buses off their own areas. We should continue with the QBCs and the additional buses we have available. We are also carrying far more passengers. There has been an increase of approximately 12% over the past four years in the numbers of people travelling by Dublin Bus, and that has worked successfully.

Deputy Kenny mentioned the other issues. A total of €1.2 billion has been invested in railways in the past four or five years. Iarnród Éireann, which is carrying people to Kildare, as the Deputy mentioned, has seen an enormous increase in capacity. A total of 120 new inner city rail cars, the largest order ever placed in the history of the State, have been ordered and will be commissioned. As Deputy Kenny is aware, a large number of them will go into the towns he mentioned. That is on top of a huge increase in capacity over recent years. The DART, Luas and bus services are also helping, although maybe not in the areas he mentioned. It is the rail services they require.