Mr. Thomas O'Connor:

Deputy Joan Collins spoke about the PSO subvention. The subvention of Dublin Bus is the lowest in Europe bar none. The company is 85% self-funded and only gets 15% of its revenue from the State. That figure is not matched anywhere across Europe, even where there is privatisation.

Senator Devine spoke of the orbitals. When Dublin Bus changed its network between 2009 and 2012, it did not have the funding to introduce these orbitals. Some of the orbitals in this plan replicate existing routes such as the 17A, the 75 and the 76 but there are new ones like the north 6 and the west 4. They are needed and they should be introduced on top of the existing network and monitored. However, trying to introduce changes of this magnitude all at once is a recipe for disaster.