Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister's commitment to reforming the 1932 Act. This matter was raised during the DTA debate. When will this legislation be before the House? Will it be this term?

The second issue I wish to raise concerns Dublin Bus abusing its dominant position in the marketplace. The Circle Line company went out of business under the present system. One of the reasons for this was that Dublin Bus travelled in convoy before and after the Circle Line buses. Some of the bus stops were obstructed by parked Dublin Bus vehicles at taxpayers' expense to ensure that Circle Line buses could not stop there. The Department produced a report as recently as 2007, indicating that during the previous two years it carried out seven separate monitoring services. It found that Dublin Bus's operating services on the 25x route were well in excess of the approved levels, that the company operated the 25A service in a way that bears no resemblance to the timetable and that its buses were travelling in convoy. There was a private operator with a licence operating a route with three Dublin Bus vehicles travelling before and after its vehicles, and at the bus stops there were Dublin Bus vehicles parked as well. That is an absolute abuse of the company's privileged and dominant position in the marketplace and it is being done with taxpayers' money. Will the Minister prosecute Dublin Bus in this area? Will he hold the company to account for its abuse of taxpayers money and, most of all, for depriving commuters of a choice which the Minister and the Department seek?

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