Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have a question on the routes that are going to be put out to tender. There are, in fact, quite a few in my own area which is quite lucrative because of a growing population. It would be an area that would be cherry-picked if any were going to be. What happens to the drivers on those routes if Bus Éireann does not get the contract? We are told by the NTA that if some Expressway services are discontinued at local level that it will, as its track record proves, step in and ensure that local demand for public transport is met and that it will not leave any rural community behind. That is not quite dealing with the issue of lucrative routes going out, but what happens to the drivers? What happens to the cost base there?

I do not see how this stacks up. It does not seem logical to me that it will not cost, one way or the other. Mr. Noone spoke about Irish Rail getting a bigger portion. Could the witnesses give us a breakdown on that? It would be acceptable to send it to us at some point in the future. How does that break down? Witnesses have also said that there was a loss of services on 16 January. A number of services were lost where there is a commitment to provide a service but the service being provided at the moment is not necessarily comparable. Do the witnesses have any indication of what services have been lost? Even if that information were provided afterwards it would be useful.

The Minister keeps telling us that the state aid rules prevent intervention. It seems that there is a degree of state aid in regard to the private operator as well by virtue of the fact that they are not required to have a public component to their operation. Is it possible to build that into what the NTA is doing? Could they force fare competition? Has the Minister sought that from it?