Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The model proposed by the NTA, which is very similar to the Transport for London model, does not allow for cherry-picking. These are publicly subvented services and there is no competition. Once they exist, the operators are given a bundle of routes and are effectively given a subvented monopoly on those routes. This does not allow for cherry-picking. One could argue that currently around the country, in the inter-city market where there is significant competition, private operators are going in where they think they can make the most money. This happens where there are three or four companies on the same route. This is something very different: the NTA identifies a bundle of routes and decides there can be only one operator on those routes. Therefore, cherry-picking is not an option under this model.

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