Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

The decision by the European Union to remove a refund of almost 3.5 cent per litre of fuel used in passenger transport services will have a detrimental effect on private bus operators in rural areas and the passengers who use their services. It will also add to the cost of bussing children to school. The EU derogation which was sought by the Government will be discontinued at the end of the year. Some of the people involved in the business report that the decision will put an additional burden of up to 10% on their costs. The users of the services will have to pay for this.

Problems also arise in respect of private bus owners. While this rebate will apply to Bus Éireann as well as to private carriers, many bus owners believe the level of subvention given by the Government allows CIE companies to mask the loss of the rebate whereas the full cost will be met by private operators. I do not need to tell the Dáil what will happen if competition is removed from the sector because we all know what private operators have done for bus transport. Had they not existed, the cost of travel would be much higher.

One of the criticisms made by private bus operators is that they only read about the decision in last week's edition of The Sunday Business Post. For whatever reason, it was one of the most closely guarded secrets in the country. It is hard to understand why the Government did not ensure the operators received adequate notice because the people directly in the eye of the storm should have been informed. I call on the Minister for Transport to delay the decision for at least a year.

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