Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

Amendment No. 60 is not appropriate to the Bill as it has no direct relevance to the licensing of public bus passenger services. Under Part 2, exclusive rights have been afforded to Bus Éireann with regard to the continued provision of the public bus services currently being provided by the company, as outlined in section 52(1)(b) of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008. That right is mandated by the need to ensure the continued operation of services. Bus Éireann will, obviously, retain the role of planning the services it provides within the exclusive rights referenced in section 52, subject to the provisions of that section. However, given that the role of deciding on the needs that exist for new networks has been given to the National Transport Authority under section 48 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act, it would not be appropriate to grant that type of exclusivity to Bus Éireann, as envisaged in the amendment. Accordingly, I cannot accept the amendment. Outside of the area mentioned, planning for new networks will be the job of the NTA from now on.

Amendments Nos. 61 and 62 were discussed at some length on Committee Stage and again here. My position remains the same with regard to those amendments. Amendment No. 63 is also linked to amendments already discussed under section 10. I reiterate that the protection and integrity of the national, urban and local bus networks is already specifically in place. Amendment No. 64 raises the issue of public consultation, an issue we have dealt with on several occasions. We have gone as far as we can in that regard. Including this would not be appropriate for once-off events and the like. Section 10(2) already provides that the authority can seek information from any source, which covers the issue.

The requirement for a minimum notice period for services to be revoked is proposed in amendment No. 65. This is linked to amendments proposed on sections 13 and 14. This issue has already been discussed. It is a matter for the authority to consider the need for such a provision and if it considers this might be of some practical use, it can do it. I do not consider this a matter for primary legislation. With regard to amending licences, I mentioned that such amendments must be noted in accordance with section 14.

Amendment No. 66 is already facilitated, in the context of its consideration of applications, under the provision of section 10 of the Bill. A further reference in section 23 is neither appropriate nor necessary. The guidelines must be published in draft form as a result of amendment No. 67, which will be considered shortly. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport will be presented with a draft of the guidelines and have the opportunity to present its comments. As I mentioned on Committee Stage, the Deputy's amendment is based on the premise that there will be deregulation of the bus market, which is not what the Bill proposes. It provides there will be regulated competition in the market for commercial services, a fact that is clearly established in the expanded section 10 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act as provided for in section 29 of the Bill. On those grounds, I ask Deputy Broughan to withdraw the amendments.

See this speech in context