Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I have no plans to privatise, or even part-privatise, Dublin Bus. I agree with the Deputy that there are opportunities with the orbital and other routes into Dublin city centre. Transport 21 provides for a 60% increase in the number of buses operating in Dublin. Other factors feeding into that are all different parties to the delivery of bus transport as a passenger mode in and around Dublin. We are agreed there should be market reform and the 1932 Act must be amended. Much progress has been made in this. I hope to go to Government during this session with the final outcomes of those deliberations. There has been a positive response to the application before us and new buses will go into the market this year in reply to the package applied for by Dublin Bus.

I will deal with all those issues in the round shortly. Dublin Bus is in discussions with the local authorities, the DTO and the quality bus network project office on foot of the review and those inputs are important.

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