Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will be aware, it is the responsibility of the National Transport Authority, NTA, to conduct the current public procurement process relating to the tendering out of 10% of the public service obligation, PSO, bus network. The NTA is undertaking this by way of three separate competitions: Dublin metropolitan, Dublin commuter and Waterford. It is well recognised that good public transport is a key enabler of both social inclusion and economic progress, and the progression of these competitions forms part of the Government's commitment to improving our public transport system and services. One of the objectives of the public procurement process is to bring about improvements and enhancements in how bus services are provided. The NTA has made it clear that it expects improved punctuality and reliability in particular as well as improvements in the customer service.

The NTA monitors all PSO services in Ireland and penalises operators if services fall below the contractual targets. This same approach will be taken with successful bidders in all three competitions. There are also incentives in the contract for beating punctuality targets. As quality of service is measurable, the NTA has set out in the contract the customer service levels expected, and the NTA will use the contract terms to drive up levels of customer service. All services operated under the new contracts will continue to be regulated by the NTA, as they are today. This means that Leap cards, the free travel pass, real-time information, the national journey planner etc. will all continue to operate on these services. The NTA has the statutory powers to determine fare levels, and will continue using its fares determination process to rationalise and improve the fare structure across all the different operators in the regulated bus market, including any new operators.

As the Deputy is aware, the PSO programme represents a significant expenditure of taxpayers' money. PSO subvention increased last year, again this year, and will increase yet further next year. Over the three years, PSO subvention will have increased by 35% in total. Taxpayers' contribution toward funding our PSO services is substantial.

See this speech in context