Mr. J.J. Kavanagh:

It is certainly turning a profit-making business into a loss-making situation. Six months ago, fuel for an ordinary commuter route involving a 400 km round trip cost approximately €150. It is now costing €225. You either increase fares, increase patronage or you go out of business. Increasing fares is not an option at this stage because there is a lot of pressure on people who want to commute and travel. Many Government initiatives are actually working in the opposite direction where they are going to reduce fares, even though we are excluded from those initiatives, such as the 20% reduction in fares and the student or youth fare, which we have been excluded from as well in the short to medium term. We therefore have no option but to try to absorb it. It will impact on service delivery and service levels. As I said in my statement, there may have to be curtailment of services in the coming months to try to cover costs or keep them at a minimum and to try to survive this hiatus that has happened.