John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

So tell me if this is not within the OGP's remit. The school bus system is operated through the Department of Education obviously. For 20 years or more, people will have heard numerous complaints in this House, by parents on behalf of their children, every single year about the transport system operated to schools. On the other end of that are the independent or private school bus operators who are contracted to Bus Éireann. Those operators complain about the price and the way they have been treated. I do not know this for a fact, because I cannot get an answer that explains everything, but I presume that all of those independent contractors must go through a procurement process with Bus Éireann itself. They win the contract and on they go but the main contract is between Bus Éireann and the Government. I do not know how much that contract is worth but I am sure it is a significant amount of money and for a lot of people, it does not function very well at all. Forever and a day, we have tried to get answers as to why it is all not tendered.

I checked with some of the major bus operators in the country and they said they could of course tender for that but they have never been asked. Can the officials check that as part of their work in order to establish why it is not happening? They might give a note to the committee on the background to it.