Mr. Aidan Murphy:

I can tell Deputy Dooley that the board has asked the executive to come up with a plan to return the Expressway route to profitability. It is important to remember that 50% of Bus Éireann's revenue stream comes from the school transport services, 25% of it comes from the PSO-operated routes on behalf of the NTA and 25% of it comes from the Expressway service. All of those figures are approximate. It is clear that a commercial operation which is not in a profitable position needs to be addressed quickly. That is why we have asked the executive to come up with a very comprehensive strategic plan, which we will discuss in a collaborative fashion with our stakeholders, particularly our employees and their representatives, to ensure we have a route to continued profitability and sustainability for the Expressway network into the future. This is an important element of the matter. We have invested heavily in new coaches. We do not use second-hand coaches on our network. We have invested heavily to ensure our branding is clear and easily distinguished to attract as many consumers to our product as possible. With regard to competition, I accept that we are in a very competitive environment. We provide just 18% of the services on the Dublin-Limerick route, for example. That gives the Deputy an indication of the level of competition we face. We are facing that competition in a very positive fashion. We believe there is a strong future for Expressway.