Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This matter is governed by European and national legislation, as I am sure the Deputy knows. The NTA will continue to define the services that the successful applicants will be contractually required to provide. The tender is for up to 10% of routes and I expect both companies will submit robust bids. The NTA will apply the same level of control and centralised planning to the routes put out to tender as it does to the routes operated by the CIE suite of companies. It will predetermine the routes, schedules, vehicle types, standards, fares and customer service requirements. It is a modest change. In the past few months, even in the past week, Dublin Bus has been hiring. It is looking for 100 new workers. It is in a positive position. I expect issues which arise to be dealt with in in the engagement with the NTA and the unions.

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