Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

On the first question, to be fair to Bus Éireann, the €8.47 million did not arise only as a result of departmental pressure on it. We have been changing the rules arising from the value for money report, from which savings have been achieved. As a result of the increase in student charges there has been a reduction in the number of students whose parents wish to avail of the saving. There are a number of different factors arising which impacted. This is not only a matter of our requiring Bus Éireann to make savings. We are working with it to ensure that the cost to the State in terms of school transport is as little as possible. Given that two-thirds of the funding is already tendered for by Bus Éireann to private contractors, it is not a case of an arrangement being in place with Bus Éireann which would result in a great saving on the €152 million. Two thirds of that expenditure is already tendered for by Bus Éireann to private contractors, ranging from drivers of taxis to bus companies with a number of routes. As such, there is not a €152 million potential tender.

We looked at these issues in detail in the VFM. The Government bought into the approach that we would stick going forward for the mean time with Bus Éireann as the central organiser and maximise, having regard to the need for Bus Éireann to have some reserved fleet operations, the amount of outsourcing that Bus Éireann undertook. If we were to consider going to tender - we are not actively considering doing so now - we would most likely opt for two different approaches, namely, a management company which would tender and another form of tendering for the provision of school transport. We see them as different functions. All students apply to Bus Éireann for school transport. It has to examine all applications and make its decisions based on critical mass and the provision of services. We are not obliged to go to tender on this. We have consulted legally on the matter in terms of its being part of the court case and on the EU issues involved. We are not obliged, given we have an arrangement in place, to go to tender. We believe we are getting good value for money from the arrangement currently in place.