Mr. Ray Hernan:

I would have to disagree in that context. Basically, my understanding is that the Minister has offered to provide extra funding for new services, not existing services. The problem we have as an organisation currently is that we are not providing the most optimal structure to provide the most efficient service for the money we have got. We do not have a structure within the organisation that provides the most efficient service to our customers in terms of value for money to the customer and for the taxpayer. That is an element we need to address in the context of the discussions I want to have with the unions. It also needs to be pointed out that we only get subvention from the NTA for our public service obligation, PSO, services. We have a significant business in Expressway that is seriously challenged from a financial perspective. Under state aid rules, the Minister cannot provide any funding for that part of our company. To be clear on this, Expressway will stay as part of Bus Éireann. The fix for Expressway, however, requires us to assess the entire structure of Bus Éireann, not just Expressway. We need to find efficiencies within the organisation to allow us to provide a much better service. I believe that were we do that, we would be providing many more services across the country.