Mr. J.J. Kavanagh:

We have operated in London for the past 18 months and it is a buoyant market. There is significant scope for development and much encouragement given by authorities in London. We have received funding from Hertfordshire County Council to expand and develop our services to a greater extent over there, including costs and capital expenditure. There is a proactive mood in London with regard to public transport. I suggest that public transport in London is growing and the model used is very effective and has more than adequate controls. For example, there is currently development of a prototype bus for launch in London, and that has been instigated by Transport for London. It is like the older red buses that had a platform instead of a back door. The cost of operation in London relative to the market size is quite small, and the market is working. Deputy Dooley was there eight years ago and there has been remarkable change since then.

We are here to discuss public service obligation, PSO, routes. The network is defined and we are talking about being allowed to tender for these routes. This is separate to commercial routes, which are licensed by the National Transport Authority. Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus have authorisations, along with ourselves, to provide services, and they are determined by demand. We seek those services.

For all the shortcomings in the map, one can consider the south east, where there is a comprehensive network of services operating at no current cost to the Exchequer. Many of the services provided in rural Ireland today come through private operators at no cost to the Exchequer, and many of the services operated by Bus Éireann in rural Ireland occur one day a week. To say there is a comprehensive PSO network operating in rural Ireland is wrong, and the comprehensive service is operated by private companies. If the private operator was allowed to tender, the service network would be enhanced dramatically and there would be an increase in activity.

In response to Deputy Fleming, tourism is the keystone of our industry. We provide over 90% of public transport for tourists visiting Ireland today. That is a fact and is agreed by Fáilte Ireland. We work closely with Fáilte Ireland and we are members of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, ITIC. We attend trade shows and we have actively promoted Ireland. Coach tourism has been proven to be the most successful way of getting tourists to the regions in Ireland. We have invested heavily in that sector. Twenty or 30 years ago we provided perhaps 10% of the transport; we now provide over 90% of the network. We have invested in this and we have proven it can be done.

On the issue of school transport, the school transport network is contracted to Bus Éireann, which in turn subcontracts it. The private operators provide 85% of the contract. We are not the people who determine where the bus goes. That is done by contract with Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills.