Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I believe I am right in saying that the international experience indicates that introducing competitive tension into our public service obligation, PSO, bus market, that is a mixture of direct award and competitively tendered contracts, should allow us to capture potential benefits as regards value for money and in terms of the use of taxpayers' money in securing the provision of PSO services. The Government, as apart from the NTA, must look at how we spend taxpayers' money and get value for money. I hope we can agree, at least in principle, that the introduction of the 10% bus market opening provides such an opportunity.

I have to repeat, because it is repeated in the House so often, that there is no sinister underhand privatisation agenda here.

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