Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I will withdraw amendment No. 13 but I do not accept the Minister's argument in regard to amendment No. 14, namely, that the sustainability of demand cannot be considered. If one considers any business plan, one would have the parameters of the impact of a proposed new service on existing operators, on the attraction of new consumers and on modal shifts. Part of the whole place of this Bill in our national legislation is that we continue to develop a modal shift away from cars and into buses, trains and trams. That is measurable and much work has been done here and internationally in this regard.

It is striking that the recommendations of the UK Office of Fair Trading report and the conclusions it reaches are based on lengthy transport research that has been done over decades in big markets like that of the UK, where it can be said the price of fares is elastic and that there is a tendency for commuters to take the next service, whatever service appears, and so on. Like other areas of transport, it is a market that has its own particular characteristics.

Going on past experience, does the Minister believe the proposal from Citylink to have 750 buses a week travelling between Dublin Airport and Galway city is sustainable? Obviously, it would be a wonderful service for the population concerned but, as soon as Citylink mother company, ComfortDelGro, has driven its private sector competitor and Bus Éireann off the route, does the Minister realistically believe Citylink would maintain that service at such frequencies and with such a good fleet and so on? Most people simply do not believe it. As we know, the company is engaged in exclusive behaviour, which is something I asked the Minister to ban in the competitive sector under this Bill. Therefore, I will press amendment No. 14.

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