Ms Anne Graham:

On the Deputy's first point, the free travel scheme has been capped for the past number of years. If a new commercial operator comes in to operate a service, it cannot currently avail of a payment under the scheme. The operator would be obliged to make a decision as to whether it will allow pass holders to travel for free or whether it will be obliged to charge them the full fare. That is a commercial decision which it must make. In the context of replacement services in circumstances where we are providing a subsidised, PSO-contracted service, as the Deputy is aware, we were not able to avail of any subsidy under the free travel scheme in respect of the service we provided between Cashel and Portlaoise. In order to make the service as viable as possible, we were obliged to charge a concessionary fare - half the normal adult fare - in respect of free travel pass holders. It would depend on what services are being proposed in the context of replacement services. We may be faced with the same kind of decision if we cannot access a subsidy under the free travel scheme.