Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

Does the Minister of State not accept that the introduction of franchising in Britain was a complete disaster, resulting in a 25% increase in fares across Britain while passenger numbers fell. Similarly, since the bus market in Copenhagen, which has a similar population to Dublin, was deregulated in the early 1990s costs have risen, while passenger numbers and service reliability have fallen. Does the Minister of State accept that this is due to the lack of subsidy and the absence of extra buses, although more buses will come into the market? Delay is part of the problem. There is no alternative to car transport in many parts of this city and across the State, including in the Minister of State's county. Does the Minister of State agree that is where the investment should be made?

Will the private service be on new routes or existing routes? Is the Minister of State saying that decision will be left to the authority or does the Department have no view on it? My colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, has put down a question about meeting the stakeholders. Has the Minister of State met the stakeholders and the trade unions about the roll-out of this package?

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