John,
Your issue is one that is being covered in P11's forthcoming version of what the IE customer charter should be like. We are also working on a legal method of obtaining punctuality statistics from IE. The "padding" in the timetable is purely a method of ensuring close compatibility with promises in the current passenger charter. In simple terms, a con job, that doesn't push the railway to obtaining a level of service, that justifies two things...
1. The investment made
2. A modern 21st service.
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