Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives from Bus Éireann and the National Roads Authority. I wish to deal with intercity services provided by both Bus Éireann and other service providers and to focus on long journey times from Dublin to Limerick, Cork and beyond. Is there a requirement that toilet facilities be provided on board these coaches, be they in public or private ownership? If there is a non-stop service from Limerick to Dublin, which probably takes about three hours, is there a requirement to have a toilet on board as part of the licensing of the service? What inspection takes places to ensure that provision is adhered to?

Will the Bus Éireann representative indicate the level of profitability of the school bus service? I am aware that this issue was discussed by the committee on a previous occasion. What percentage of the profit, if any, from the school transport service is used for other services in Bus Éireann?

Over the Christmas period I as well as a number of people noticed a brand, Transport for Ireland, advertising on mainstream broadcast media. Will the witnesses indicate why this brand is being used? Transport for Ireland comprises four different companies. It seems to me to be a complicated branding initiative. What is it trying to achieve? What is being achieved? How much is the advertising campaign costing? Who is paying for that campaign?

I have raised the issue of intercity route corridors, specifically private operators who are going through provincial towns that are not bypassed. I have raised the issue in the context of the extension of licences that are granted for services from Limerick to Dublin and down into Kerry through Tralee and Killarney, passing through the towns of Adare, Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale, with Rathkeale and Castleisland being bypassed. What progress is being made in extending these services into these provincial towns and when can we expect to see a service change?