Professor Aisling Reynolds-Feighan:

Regarding tender contracts, it is very much down to how they are written, such as containing penalties if contracts are not met or the possibility for both the service provider and a regulator who has issued the tender to make amendments to it. We have to be careful in how tenders are managed to ensure the service requirement identified is actually delivered by the service provider. It is possible to revisit them if there are budgetary constraints or if ridership does not meet forecast levels.

The National Transport Authority and regulators across Europe are getting better at building up their expertise in deploying competitive tendering contracts and managing them. There has also been recent work by the European Commission looking at the deployment of this kind of tendering contract in public transport in several countries to share and build up expertise to ensure it is deployed as a better instrument.

In an Irish context, we have been using public service obligations for several years. We have used them successfully in air transport to fill service requirements. An expertise has been built up in their deployment. They can be effective in bringing about greater responsiveness and trying to contain costs. That is important from a national perspective in trying to stretch a limited budget as far as possible for the benefit of the country.

I am not advocating we cease investing in rail services. We have an extensive rail network in place which provides an alternative for road-based transport along key corridors. However, we have to look at the best way to deploy our limited resources and invest in infrastructure and services. We have to make choices which will deliver the best level of service from a national perspective. There is limited scope for further expanding the rail network for the reasons I already outlined.

We need to look at the overall infrastructure budget. As the economy has picked up, we need to invest significantly in our transport infrastructure, which is principally roads, to fill additional needs in the economy as it expands. The planning framework, as well as the new spatial strategy, will have an important role in how we effectively link up all of the regions and deploy the best possible transport system.