Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to supply the public transport passenger with a more diverse bus service provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15509/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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This question relates to the structure of the public service obligation bus market. The programme for Government contains a commitment "to establish a Cabinet Sub-Committee on Infrastructure to explore the benefits to the public transport passenger of a more diverse bus service provision".  In line with this commitment, the National Transport Authority conducted a non-statutory public consultation in the summer of 2012. A report on the process is available on the website of the authority.  I draw the Deputy's attention to the Competition Authority's submission, which highlighted the positive international experience of tendering. The National Transport Authority briefed the Cabinet sub-committee on the process in October 2012. Public consultation submissions will be considered and taken into account by the authority when it comes forward with proposals.  If the authority proposes to enter into a further direct award contract or contracts for bus services, it is obliged to carry out a statutory consultation under section 52 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008.  Furthermore, the legislation states that it may not enter into direct award contracts unless "it is satisfied that the continued adequacy of the public bus passenger services to which the contracts relate can only be guaranteed in the general economic interest by entering into such direct award contracts".  Accordingly, the matter will require further examination by the National Transport Authority before any decisions are taken. I have been advised by the authority that it is commencing a series of analytical tasks in respect of the public service obligation bus market.  This analytical work will be completed before August of this year, when the authority anticipates that statutory consultation on any new direct award contract will need to commence.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Minister accept that Ireland has one of the lowest public transport subsidies in Europe? Does he agree that the international experience of market liberalisation is quite mixed? He mentioned that the Competition Authority has highlighted the international experience. On the basis of research I have done, that experience appears to be quite mixed. The initial results in countries where liberalisation has happened to a large, medium or small degree show that states can obtain some savings in certain circumstances. That needs to be borne in mind. In some countries, privatisation has led to monopolisation, or a variation thereof, over a number of years. This has led to an increase in the costs incurred by the state. It might be appropriate for the Minister to refer to a report produced by the transport committee in 2003 or 2004, after members of the committee met representatives of London Bus, in the context of the decisions due to be taken. Is it the case that the overheads of private operators are significantly lower than those of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus? Does the Minister agree that a wider discussion of the liberalisation and privatisation agenda is required? As I see it, liberalisation is certainly not a panacea that would solve all our problems. In fact, it might create greater problems.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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It is absolutely the case that international experience is mixed. The very good report produced by the Competition Authority gives an overview of where this has worked well, where it has not and the reasons for that success or lack thereof. The report gives us a good idea of how this can be done in the right way. The subvention paid to public transport is relatively low. It is important to compare like with like. In some countries, public transport operators receive public service obligation payments only. We also pay capital grants to such operators, particularly in the case of the railways. If one adds the capital grants to the public service obligation payments, one will find the level of subvention is not as low as it might seem. It is also important to bear in mind that we do not have the same level of public transport as other countries. We do not have high-speed rail or underground rail, for example.

If we did, subvention would obviously be higher. Touching on what Deputy Ross said earlier, I do not believe it would ever be possible to have a public transport system that did not require some subvention. It is a public service, after all. Therefore, it is always going to require some subvention if one wants an extensive network covering all the cities and rural areas.