Mr. Ultan Courtney:

As with Mr. Murphy, I do not think there is any issue in Dublin Bus with regard to gender and pay. Pay is based on grade. The last senior appointment we had was a lady to the chief financial officer's position. Unfortunately, we took it from Mr. Murphy's organisation. We take the best people wherever we can find them.

The situation with property is quite similar. We have the garages and so on but we have absolutely no plans to divest ourselves of them because they are part of our strategic investment in the Dublin area. They are very important to how we provide services across the city. Outside of that, I am not aware of any other property we will be disposing of. It is under the control of CIE group property division.

The Senator asked a very interesting question about the NTA, buses and branding and so on. It is a very important question because it comes down to the whole idea of what kind of bus company we want in Dublin. Dublin Bus will be there for some considerable time regardless of what policy changes are made. The question always arises about the nature of it. The Dublin Bus brand is very important to us and we use it in all our marketing. People talk about livery but we never do. Instead we talk about branding, marketing and positioning. It is very important to us to protect that brand and it is very important it is there into the future. What happened in London is often cited.

They had different operators but kept the red buses. My humble submission is that whatever changes happen, please keep the Dublin Bus colours. They are very important to the company, and are also a very valuable asset to the State. It is valued at €28 million and could go up over the next few years, depending on expansion, to €33 million.

We are talking about the efficient use of assets. An asset of the State cannot just be given away. It is important to protect the brand, and one of the principal duties of the board is to protect the assets of the State and get the maximum value for them. Notwithstanding that, we have been engaged with the NTA. Dublin Bus has been driving this, because it has the expertise in branding. It set up a brand room, which everyone, including Ministers and officials from the Department, wanted to see, showing what a new branding concept for Dublin Bus, which would protect the brand and the value that it has, would look like, and presented the idea of a new, innovative and modern service. Dublin Bus is not afraid of change or of looking at branding, but it is going to protect its assets.