Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a statutory function of the NTA, under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 and EU Regulation 1370/2007, to award PSO contracts and to determine the appropriate mix of directly awarded and competitively tendered PSO services.

As I mentioned in an earlier response, the PSO programme represents a significant expenditure of taxpayers' money and has increased by 35% in the past three years. Some €285 million in funding has been allocated toward funding our PSO services in 2018.

International experience indicates that introducing competitive tension into our PSO bus market, that is, a mixture of direct award and then competitively tendered contracts, should allow us to capture potential benefits as regards value in the use of taxpayers' money in securing the provision of PSO services.

It is well-recognised that good public transport is a key enabler of both social inclusion and economic progress and opening up the bus market forms part of the Government's commitment to improving our public transport system and services.

It is important to note that neither Dublin Bus nor Bus Éireann is being privatised. Competitive tendering is not privatisation, as nothing is being sold, services are not being deregulated and control remains with the NTA.

We are placing passengers at the centre of our public transport policy and the recent arrival of Go Ahead into the bus market introduces competitive tendering, not privatisation, and encourages everybody to focus on his or her customer's needs. It also encourages innovation and improvements to service quality for bus passengers.

I remind the Deputy that all public transport services, whether they are provided by direct award contracts or through competitive tender, will continue to be regulated by the NTA in order that Leap, free travel pass, real-time information, etc., will all continue to operate on these services and fares will continue to be regulated by NTA.

The NTA has the statutory responsibility to award PSO contracts and to determine the appropriate mix of directly awarded and competitively tendered PSO services. Under the law, this is not an area in which I have a role and I have no plans to change the law in this regard.

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