Mr. Ultan Courtney:

I thank the Chairman. I will speed it up. I echo the comments made by my colleagues. I am aware that Deputy Dooley has been involved with the transport sector for a long time and is probably aware of the efforts being made by Dublin Bus. This year we are looking at some 290 plug-in hybrid buses coming on stream and, in conjunction with the NTA, getting more than fully electric 800 buses over the next five years. These are substantial investments in transport. The biggest issue has always been that while we can do all of these things, there was a question as to where the money would come from. The commitment and the money are there now. The NTA wants to do it and we want to help the NTA implement it. We will see that happen very quickly.

On the pricing initiative relating to buses, the revenue risk has moved from the company back the NTA. It is for the NTA primarily to decide the pricing policy and we implement it. Mr. Allen is quite correct that when we go back to full transport, as I call it, and when people are moving around again, we may have to look at initiatives that encourage people to use public transport again or at how public transport it actually used. It may well be used differently in the future.