Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to follow on from Deputy Maloney's point about declaring an interest. I am of the opposite view. It is very difficult for me to access public transport given where I live. I commend the NTA on its route planner app – the national journey planner. If I were to come from home this morning to work I had three options. One was to leave on Monday afternoon. The other was to leave yesterday morning, which would be okay, and the third option was to leave this morning for work yesterday. On Monday I would have had a seven hour, six minute journey. On Tuesday I would have had a six hour, 30 minute journey and today I would have had a six hour, 51 minute journey. That is quite difficult. That is one of the issues the National Transport Authority has. In saying that, when one looks at the app and the options offered, it is extraordinary to see the mix of public and private options that are available. That is encouraging. It is one of the successes of the app. That is not a criticism, it a vagary of where I live.

That follows then to what we are doing. We had a meeting with the NBRU and SIPTU representing drivers from both public and private companies. They were at great pains to say they would not apologise for representing their members. The unions represent their members. The company, by and large, should represent the company and the customers. We have a remit to represent taxpayers, both those who use public transport and those who do not. We are the poor sods that have to represent them all and their conflicting interests. People have strayed into an ideological debate on privatisation. I am more interested in achieving the best result; the most efficient service at best value for the customer who uses public transport.

Mr. Murphy answered the question of why the NTA settled on 10% of the routes. Is he considering other routes at the moment for a future tendering process? I am not talking about waiting to see what happens because the pace of change for whatever reason is slow. Is the NTA considering a parallel process and doing the groundwork to consider other routes under the same criteria or even under different terms to achieve best value?

I am pleased that it was confirmed that Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus can also tender for the routes. They went to great pains to say they are as competitive as many of the operators in the private sector. I wish them well if they have tendered for those routes. Does the NTA have any remit for the depots and how they would come into the equation in terms of the new arrangements?

Hackney licences in rural areas are an important issue for my area where I have outlined that while public transport is available and we are pleased with the service the rural hackney initiative will have a beneficial impact on the more peripheral rural areas.

Concern regarding displacement is an issue. In small and larger towns we already have good private taxi services. These providers have concerns that less onerous terms being introduced will displace them. I understand there are some checks and balances, but will these be ongoing? Will there be an appeals process or a process whereby an existing hackney driver who has invested a significant sum in his business can make an appeal or a case to the NTA through the local authorities, not now but in a couple of years time when it is apparent this initiative has detrimentally affected the service he provides and the people for whom he provides it?

I welcome the decisions taken in regard to the co-ordination of rural transport. I welcome in particular Bantry Rural Transport Partnership and Comharchumann Chléire Teoranta on the work they have done. It is clear that because they own their own fleet, they were looked on differently. The replacement of those fleets will pose a challenge, but I am pleased they were given consideration.