Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the routes lead to a better service or are they being cherry picked as high-volume routes? In the context of the Bus Éireann routes from Tullamore to Portlaoise, I assume there are already existing commercial operators on the routes. What is the advantage of singling out those routes, which are already providing a service? With regard to the employees of CIE, I am curious about the position of the letters of comfort that many employees are believed to hold.

Is it always the case that competition benefits the customer? In England, the deregulation of the bus service has led to more inefficiency and a reduction in service because tour operators operated to a strictly commercial criteria rather than including a public service obligation. As a result, customers lost out on services. Do the witnesses foresee that as a possibility?