Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is not loaded at all. The question has been asked previously. It is fine. I will address the Deputy's questions as well as I can.

He is talking about how individual routes like the Cork-Dublin route are operated. The like-for-like comparison of individual routes is a matter for the NTA and not for me. I see the point the Deputy is making. As I have said previously, if there are problems in a particular area, the NTA will move in to ensure there is connectivity in that area. It has done this in the past. It is perhaps a little unfair to criticise the NTA for what it has done. It was very prompt in its response. I do not normally congratulate semi-State bodies or State agencies too rapidly because I do not think it is a particularly necessary thing to do. However, I should say that the NTA's response in each of these cases has been commendable. When the closures or reductions were announced, the NTA moved in and said what it was going to do. It should be noted that the private operator on the Clonmel-Dublin route calls to more towns and villages than the Expressway service does.

It has been suggested that Bus Éireann is negotiating without knowing what the situation is in respect of free travel. As this dispute is not directly linked to the free travel negotiations, it would be somewhat difficult to say how much the company is going to get. The Minister, Deputy Varadkar, has made it fairly plain that he does not want the issue of free travel to be exclusively linked to an industrial relations problem. We have been very active on this issue. We will continue to regard it as a matter of urgency. We can be optimistic that the talks between my officials and the Minister for Social Protection's officials are going ahead in a very satisfactory way. I hope we will be able to resolve these issues reasonably soon. I think everybody recognises that because the levels, charges, prices and fares were fixed and frozen in 2010, there is a need for reforms in this area. We do not yet know whether those reforms will take place immediately or next year, but the talks are progressing well. Regardless of our political differences, we all want the anomaly that needs to be remedied to be addressed.