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

I welcome the witnesses. The function of the NTA is to ensure that a proper transport service is provided throughout the country. Today we are talking about rural bus services and Expressway. The NTA assesses licences for routes where there is competition. There has been some discussion on the matter already in terms of an uptake in usage. In the context of the Cork to Dublin route, for example, the NTA said there was a 61% increase in usage, but it is a known fact that capacity has been increased by 111%. How can one call that fair competition when the private operator can go directly from Cork to Dublin without stopping but Bus Éireann's Expressway route must stop at certain towns. The EU Competition Commissioner is due to come before us. Recently, I noted an Expressway bus pulling into Mitchelstown with 45 people on board but only two paid fares. How can one expect a company to compete with a private operator, especially when the private operators are reluctant to take all the people with free travel passes?

Is this a way for the Minister for Social Protection to, in the future, charge people who are currently entitled to free travel? The NTA has said it would step in and provide a rural link service. The people who use the service end up paying in one way or another for it. It is all well and good to say an alternative service will be provided. The Minister has said he will not abolish free travel for old age pensioners but will charging come in the back door via the rural link buses when they are put in place? Could Ms Graham please comment?