Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

It was difficult to keep up. With regard to the composition of the authority, I do not anticipate the need to change the criteria for people who will go on the DTA when it changes to a national transport authority. The same types of skills - a wide experience in transport, industrial, commercial and financial land use, planning or environmental matters and the organisation or workers and administration - mean such people can stay as they are. I may have to consider a geographic spread of the people involved.

From 9 December this year, all PSO contracts and subvention will be subject to a contract, and any new PSO will be subject to open public tender from any operator, public or private. The DTA will administer all of that. When the national transport authority comes into existence, it will look after the licensing at the time and it will have the responsibility which currently resides in the Department.

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