Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The 100 buses I mentioned for the private sector are not the total. They form part of an immediate guarantee ring-fenced for the private sector so that it can get a strong foothold in the market. In respect of regulation, the Dublin Transport Authority will discuss with Dublin Bus and the various operators how the network is working in Dublin and throughout the greater Dublin area. There is a need for many new services on the orbital routes and interconnectivity both with other modes of transport and the city.

It is proper not to dismantle a network that works. We are trying to add capacity and work within EU competition law and the EU directives to ensure that we achieve a modern regulatory framework that brings competition into the market and opens the market in a measured way, unlike the big bang approach taken in other countries, following which whole systems collapsed.

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