Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Bus Éireann is rolling out the scheme and it has subcontracted a lot of buses from private individuals.

Is Bus Éireann making a profit running the scheme? It is being said that its coffers are a lot richer because of the roll-out of the bus scheme.

I want to go a step further. It is a monopoly when there is only one service provider. Would we get better value for money if we opened it up to private contractors? Bus Éireann is subcontracting them for the routes. The routes are given out, many of which I know, around Kilkenny and Carlow and everywhere else. Would the Department not get better value if it went directly to the subcontractors, put the routes out to tender and saw who came in with the best price? Would that not save us money at a cost of €190 million? When one has a monopoly and no-one to compete against, it does not sound like good business. The service level agreement that is being talked about was questioned by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his report up to 2015. I question it as well. If we even got a sample of putting it out to public auction to see who would come in at the best prices, we might get a better and cheaper service. I ask the Secretary General to comment.