Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

Yes, the Department has confidence in the contracting arrangements in place in Bus Éireann. I am not aware that we have written confirmation from the auditors but I will check and revert to the committee on that.

I should clearly state to the committee that we, as a Department, have had serious concerns about value for money within school transport and we undertook a very detailed value for money review in that regard. Arising from that, the review and outcome were noted by the Government and changes in policy were made. The decision was made to stick with Bus Éireann as a central transport organiser but to maximise the amount of services procured by Bus Éireann as part of the process. That is the arrangement in place but we are keeping it under review.