Ms Anne Graham:

Public transport is regulated by Regulation No. 1370/2007, a European regulation which required that contracted services be in place by a particular deadline and clear information to be provided on the level of subsidy provided for service provision. Separately, member states had to ensure no subsidy was being provided for commercial services. When the National Transport Authority took over the first contract under this regulation and the Dublin Transport Authority Act, a decision was made in advance on which Bus Éireann services would be commercial and which would be subsidised. The authority inherited this position as the decision had been made and the first contract-----