Mr. Colm Mac Donncha:

It centres around the fact that many islands enjoy PSO contracts. They have subsidised services and private operations, as well. It is a mix of the two. Our problem is if we go back and apply a 50% reduction on a fare that we agreed with somebody with whom we went through the procurement process, we are worried we may be leaving ourselves open to a challenge from private operators saying we are favouring people who already get a subsidy over private operations. As we have pointed out a few times, that is a concern we have.

The Minister has written to the Attorney General to seek clarity on this. We fear we might end up undermining the work we are doing. We await the response from the Attorney General on that.