Fine Gael has called for an emergency £140 million (€177.76 million) investment in buses to tackle the ever-worsening traffic chaos in Dublin and other regional cities.

The party is set to table a motion in the Dail this week for the purchase of 250 new buses from the proceeds of share sales in Telecom Eireann.

The Fine Gael spokesman for public enterprise, Mr Ivan Yates, said the objective is to have a bus every minute at peak periods and every 10 minutes thereafter.

"We believe the 100 quality bus corridors should not be the subject of commuter ire while motorists are stuck in adjoining lanes," he said.

The investment would also provide for "real time" information systems at bus stops, which would give the arrival time of the next bus.