Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

With the permission of the House I would like to share with Deputy Nolan. I welcome the Minister's speech and in response to Deputy McEntee, I look forward to meeting the Aer Lingus pilots tomorrow. I have the same concerns as the Deputy about Aer Lingus staff in Shannon, as the proportion of proposed cuts to be imposed there is too high.

I am happy with this Bill, which deals with the licensing of the commercial public bus transport service. That is very important at a time when we see many people in this business who are unlicensed, and where there are insufficient penalties or deterrents for people going into it and putting legitimate operators out of business. I welcome the Minister's actions, particularly in section 10 of the Bill.

I was concerned when the Minister spoke of bringing in arrangements which already apply in the greater Dublin area, as it was the be all and end all and the answer to our problems. That is not the case and Dublin Bus has not always been a great example of the way we should be going. There is a need for a great shake-up in Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, to which I will refer later.

The point made about introducing contracts for non-commercial services is very important. I come from a county with an excellent service if a person lives in Galway city or along the main routes, with buses on the hour and half-hour. There is great competition between the private operators and Bus Éireann. However, there is an area in north-east Galway where buses, especially those from Bus Éireann, operated in the past but that service is no longer available. That is a great pity and I would like those services to be replaced by a proper service. We now have services to Dublin Airport as well, which are very welcome.

I appeal to all the people in the bus transport business, be they Bus Éireann or private operators, to always try to be on time. There are complaints about buses not meeting their timetables, which leads to people not getting to the airport on time or missing hospital or business appointments. There is an obligation on a company when it gets a licence to apply all the conditions of that licence.

The primary purpose of the Bill is to replace the Road Transport Act 1932, which I welcome. The objectives of the legislation are to promote regulated competition in the provision of licensed public bus passenger services on a national basis in the public interest. We want this to be cost-efficient and functioning well because it is essential to a modern society. Other Deputies have referred to the question of competition, which is very important because we are investing much money under Transport 21. We must ensure that there is competition and that there is a level playing field. I would like to see that being stressed by the Minister and the Department.

We want a level playing field where both the private operators and Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann operate under the same rules. This has been sought for a long time by people who provide transport. The question of equity of access to the transport market was a commitment under the agreed programme for Government. I should also mention that under this programme there was a reference to the rural transport scheme, and I am glad it was included. It is now available in every county in Ireland, and I would like to see this very good service developed.

Some people have spoken about the use of rural transport as a means to visit public houses. There was an effort by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, to link that service to public houses and it was the subject of much ridicule. They were called "booze cruises" or some other derogatory term. There is probably another way of dealing with the issue and there may be a role for the people who own or run public houses. It is good to see that rural transport is in the programme and all credit is due to the two parties in Government for putting that together.

The bus is very important in rural Ireland. As I come from a rural area I know that we cannot speak about rail services in these areas. I was pleased to note that the agreed programme for Government included a reference to the way bus licences are given out and that we want a transparent, faster and more integrated system for granting them. The programme also seeks efficient and effective utilisation of the existing fleet. There has been some duplication of services and I would like to see some of this eliminated. I have already mentioned bus departures and the reliability of services, which are very important.

The Minister has shown his commitment to the question of the railways and we are very glad to see the western rail corridor extend from Limerick to Ennis. It will go to Athenry before the end of this year. I hope the Minister will be in Athenry in the next few weeks or before the end of the year to officially launch the next phase of the corridor. The service going from Athenry to Galway and Limerick will be particularly welcome, and the next phase will bring the service to Tuam, Mayo and the north west.

I have followed this commitment for over 30 years as I worked with Fr. McGrail and people like him on the western inter-county rail committee. I am glad that the Minister has shown his commitment in this regard. I also mention a former Minister, the late Séamus Brennan, who was so supportive in getting the rail corridor progressed along the western seaboard.

The Bill establishes a very clear structure and it will be the basis of applications for bus route licences. Section 10 is at the heart of this process and will help to give genuine people a licence to operate. It will also introduce realistic penalties for those who do not have a proper licence or are operating without one. This is a welcome and overdue provision. It is essential to ensure that participants in the market are protected from illegal operators who, in the past, took advantage of the lack of sufficient penalties to gain market advantage and put other operators out of business. Now that there will be increased financial penalties and clear powers for revoking licences when people do not meet the conditions under which licences are granted, we will be able to offer more protection to service providers and the public. If a service provider fails to continue to meet the basic requirements of the road transport operators licence, which sets the standards for access to the profession, his or her route licence under this legislation will be automatically revoked.

The Bill has been drafted to give the renamed National Transport Authority the maximum latitude in relation to bus licensing, through the making of guidelines. The section headings are indicative of the Bill's deliberately non-prescriptive nature, in the sense that their purpose is to establish a legislative framework against which applications will be considered. The bus licensing guidelines under section 23 will be pivotal in setting out the criteria the authority proposes to apply to the consideration of applications for the granting of licences. The guidelines may refer to matters relating to applications for the granting, renewal, transfer or amendment of licences, including the time taken by the authority to reach a decision on these matters. In light of the importance and impact of the guidelines, the authority will be required to consult the Minister for Transport and the Competition Authority and to publish a draft of its proposals before it finalises the guidelines.

I welcome these provisions because they will open the market for future public obligation services and facilitate contracts that will ensure the continuation of the provision of existing transport services to the travelling public. I hope this Bill, which I strongly support, is enacted speedily with the co-operation of the Members of this House.

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