Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 4: To ask the Minister for Transport the progress made by his Department in developing a public transport commission; the date same will be operational; the functions and duties of the commission; if the introduction of competition into the Dublin bus market will be prioritised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36201/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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At the launch of Transport 21, I said I was convinced that we needed a new approach to transport in the greater Dublin area, delivered through a single authority with the power to ensure joined-up thinking and delivery across all transport modes. In pursuit of this objective I have appointed a team chaired by Professor Margaret O'Mahony to finalise the remit, structures and human resource requirements of the proposed authority. When considering the remit of the authority, I have asked the team to have regard to the importance of timely and effective implementation of the Transport 21 investment programme in the greater Dublin area, delivering an integrated transport system and ensuring effective inter-agency co-operation and co-ordination.

In modernising the regulatory framework governing public transport there is also a need to ensure proposals in that regard are coherent with the institutional arrangements being made for the implementation of Transport 21, particularly in the greater Dublin area. I will review how best to proceed with public transport reform and the proposal for a public transport commission after Professor O'Mahony's team has reported and the Government has made decisions on the proposed transport authority for the greater Dublin area.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am thoroughly confused. I received a reply from the Minister to a parliamentary question a couple of months ago to the effect that he had moved away from the idea of a Dublin transportation authority. He mentioned a transport commission and then announced a Dublin transportation authority. I wonder what is in and what is out. Will the remit of the Dublin transportation authority merely be to deliver Transport 21, the driving force behind infrastructural projects? Who will organise the competitive tendering process for the liberalisation of the bus market and provide public service contracts? Every time there is a problem a new body seems to be set up. We now have the promised transport commission, the Dublin transportation authority, the RPA procuring rail services, the Dublin Transportation Office and the Quality Bus Network Office, apart from local authorities and everybody else who organises the delivery of transport services. Is there any chance of rationalisation? What plans are in place to liberalise the bus market and when?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is correct about what I said some months ago but that was related to a structure proposed a few years ago for a greater Dublin authority. What I am now proposing has no connection with it whatsoever.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Which is what?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The proposal of my predecessor, which he ultimately decided against, was to set up to a greater Dublin land use authority. I will not go down that road.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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What does the Minister now propose — a transport commission or a Dublin transportation authority?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I am answering the Deputy's first question about a question I answered some time ago.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Minister is proposing two things.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is consistent with what I am now saying. The Deputy is correct to say there is a range of bodies involved in all aspects of the delivery of transport services in Dublin. Everybody was agreed it was time to rationalise that state of affairs. That is why I invited somebody with the skills and international standing of Professor Margaret O'Mahony to look into it. She has discussed many of the issues with me and did not want to be restricted in any way. Accordingly, I gave her a blank sheet of paper and asked her and her three-person establishment team to adopt a holistic approach to all the issues involved and report back to me. I was open to this because she had good ideas and a deep knowledge of all the issues involved. I do not want to pre-empt what the establishment team will come back to me with on the future delivery of all aspects of public transport services in Dublin.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am as confused now as I was before the Minister started to speak. Who will be in charge of liberalising the bus market in Dublin? The Minister and his predecessors have promised this for at least nine years, during which time negotiations with Dublin Bus have been ongoing. When will he stop negotiating and take action? It will be years before Transport 21 will deliver its major infrastructural projects but buses can be delivered quickly, at minimum cost and with minimum disruption. They are not a total but an interim solution. A decision must be made. Is the new body headed up by Professor O'Mahony to deliver infrastructure or will she be, in effect, the regulator for Dublin Bus?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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All of the issues about which the Deputy has asked me and more are being looked at by Professor O'Mahony and her team to see if all the bodies involved can be amalgamated into one. This may or may not be possible but Professor O'Mahony rightly asked not to be circumscribed in what she could look at. There are many inter-connecting issues in trying to deliver an integrated public transport system. I will not pre-empt the outcome of Professor O'Mahony's report but all of the issues raised by the Deputy and more are part of the pofessor's remit and she will report back to me in a short time.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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If he does not know what the body will do, can the Minister, at least, say if he is committed to a competitive tendering process for the acquisition of buses in Dublin? If so, when?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I am committed to opening the market in Dublin and have made this clear to all stakeholders. In fairness to them, they all accept that the time has come for the market to be opened. To give further weight to that statement, over €529 million will be provided for the acquisition of additional buses in Dublin alone, with some €250 million being provided for the rest of the country. A significant capital amount will also be allocated under Transport 21 for the same purpose.