Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Murphy for his presentation. I and my party fully support his appointment as chairperson. Obviously, it is for the Minister to move the appointment from designate to actual chairperson but the fact that he has identified Mr. Murphy as the chairperson designate appears to suggest that his appointment will be confirmed, and rightly so. Given the time he has been involved with the board, Mr. Murphy has a deep understanding of the issues facing the company. His qualifications and general understanding of public transport will bring the type of insight that is required to the company, which is clearly going through a transition.

There are a couple of issues that I ask Mr. Murphy to address. One is the challenge posed by the potential loss of the school transport business. There has been an ongoing challenge to the way the Department of Education and Skills contracts with Bus Éireann for school transport services. I am not commenting on the decision of the Department in that regard, but has the board or the incoming chairperson given any consideration to the potential of losing that business at some stage? If so, how would it impact on the viability of the company?

Second, Mr. Murphy is aware that State subvention has been reducing over a period of time, in line with the current economic situation. Coupled with that, there has been a general increase in fares for public transport. What is his view of the theory of elasticity in regard to the pricing of tickets? Does he believe we have reached a point beyond which further fare increases would lead to a shift away from public transport and back into the car, which clearly none of us wants?

Third, is Mr. Murphy aware of any issues that pose significant risk to Bus Éireann in the immediate or medium term?