Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Troy referred to fair competition with the Expressway service. He stated that on the Waterford to Dublin route, the service moves off the motorway in order to stop in some major towns and villages, whereas a private operator can go straight from A to B. I have a bigger problem regarding funding. The Minister will hide behind EU regulation. In my own backyard, within the past week or two, a bus stopped in Mitchelstown on the way to Dublin with 45 passengers on board, of whom only three were cash-paying passengers. How can we expect fair competition? We must find a way around the issue of providing the PSO and still maintaining the Expressway service. Bus Éireann carried 42 passengers all the way to Dublin and, because it is a competitive route, got no money. The matter must be addressed. There is no point hiding behind EU competition regulation. There is no fair competition. The Cork to Dublin route is covered by private operators which go direct, whereas Bus Éireann stops in Fermoy, Mitchelstown and Portlaoise along the way. How is that fair competition?