Speaking at a residents meeting in Larne last
Friday, Cllr McKinty said, "Given the underlying pressures on Translink with
rising fuel costs and day to day operations, it would make more sense to keep
pay for senior management and executives under tight control, something the
Assembly Executive seems to have no interest in doing. Furthermore,
despite targets of 20% being put in place in last decade to move people from
private transport to public transport, Translink have failed misserably in this
area, with only a 7% change over".
This pay hike comes in a week when Northern Ireland has been identified as having the most expensive fuel costs in the UK. Cllr McKinty continued "There is an appetite for cost effective, punctual and reliable public transport in Northern Ireland. Not a week goes past that constituents don't raise fuel costs with me and say they wish public transport was more accessible and indeed flexible. The Translink CEO accepting such a high salary, surrounded by the threat of Translink service cuts and a number of redundancies recently announced, undermines confidence in public opinion towards Translink. The Executive should be doing more to promote the economic, social and environmental benefits of public transport and our new trains, which are still arriving fortnightly (above)".
Following these revelations, it has emerged that significant rises in rail and bus fares could be on the cards because
Translink is expected to head towards a multi-million pound loss in the
coming years.
The Department for Regional Development (DRD) had expected the publicly-owned company to prepare a plan which
would allow it to break even financially across the group which includes
NI Railways, Metro and Ulsterbus. However, figures show that it will actually slip into the red after this year.
The report anticipates Translink will make a profit of £2m this year
(2012-2013) but will then start to make significant losses with a
deficit of £11.6m expected in 2013-2014, and £10.5m the following year
(2014-15).
Commenting on the recent news, Cllr McKinty said: "It is absolutely ludicrous that the public are being asked to pay more to keep Translink afloat. In a time of austerity, when everyone has to monitor income and expenditure, Translink need to take a very serious look at their own spendin, and urgently implement a range of efficiency savings across the board whilst still maintaining the current service level. I have no doubt that this will be a difficult exercise, but the company simply cannot resort to fare increases when their books don't balance".
"We are currently in the process of accepting delivery of 20 new trains for our rail network, yet Translink seem set on deterrin people from using the new stock. I have been involved in lobbying for retention of the Larne-Whitehead section of the Larne Line; these fare increases will do nothing to encourage people back onto the trains in sufficient numbers to guarantee the line's future" said Cllr McKinty.
"What smacks in the face of most commuters is that Translink's CEO, and no doubt other senior management, are being rewarded with increased pay, whilst the company is losing money. Senior staff need to be in touch with passengers on the ground." Concluding Cllr McKinty added "I will be raising this issue with Mike Nesbitt MLA, our party leader, to see how the Ulster Unionist Party can force the Executive to encourage salary restraint in organisations engaged in delivery of public services".
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