Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is working capital. It is going in specifically as working capital, as bridging finance. That is what it is. It is not money being transferred somehow from the State to a private company. It is going in as working capital and that is its pure purpose.

I will read this definition carefully because I asked for it. It states that the working capital requirement is driven by a combination of the tiny difference between the contractual payments to the relevant operators and the subsequent drawdown from the Department. It is purely bridging. It also includes an amount to mitigate the revenue risk of the annual estimated fare revenue in the event that forecasted revenues are lower than expected. It is, therefore, simply a cashflow issue.