Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's interest in this matter. I have engaged with him regarding the core bus corridors, which are incredibly welcome and which will facilitate speedier journeys into the city centre. Together with the tenders going out for the metro project, we are seeing substantial investment in future infrastructure.

Before Christmas, at a meeting with public representatives, NTA representatives spoke about October being a difficult time to implement a new service, with increasing congestion heading into the Christmas period. They also spoke about issues with recruitment. Providers need to have these matters in order and they need to engage with the NTA. When a new service is being introduced by the NTA, it must be done in conjunction with the operator.

The Minister referred to penalties. I would rather have buses arriving on time than a company being fined. However, when it comes to for-profit operators, the facility to impose a financial penalty is important. There are bus services in my area that are operated by private operators. It is my preference that they not be there but that is the nature of the current framework. We must make sure they abide by the conditions under which they tendered for those contracts.

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