Results 8,501-8,520 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: My first point to Deputy Troy is that I have not been in office for one year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I have not been in office for a year or anything like it. I was kept advised by my Department about all the reports to which the Deputy referred. I am talking about the NewERA, the management and the Grant Thornton reports. On every occasion I was kept advised and up to date. It would be absurd to say that I was not. To suggest that I was responsible for something not happening for one...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: It is stretching it a bit.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I certainly saw the Grant Thornton report to which the Deputy refers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: The responsibility throughout that period was on the company to produce a viable business plan. I have given the committee the sequence of events of what happened and Deputy Troy is aware of them. There was a series of business plans and suggestions from the company. I have said quite specifically that NewERA looked at them and came to a decision on them. I have given this information...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I will try to answer as many of the questions as possible. The Deputy spoke about the hire of coaches for the figure of €7 million. He also made reference to insurance costs soaring unnecessarily and difficult to explain. These are operational issues which is why we have management and people operating the companies. I am not going to micro-manage any of those semi-State bodies, in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Allow me to finish my sentence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: The Deputy should not ask me to get involved on a daily basis in the work of management which we have appointed to do this particular job. There is a board of directors. It must be remembered that there are several layers here, including me as the shareholder, acting on the Deputy's behalf and on that of everybody else, a board of directors, a chairman of these companies-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Yes, there are vacancies on the board. No doubt we shall come to that point. Those people are there to see management is doing its job, and the management is being monitored on a monthly basis. That is not up to me. I take Deputy Troy's point about looking at the annual report and asking about what is happening. That is very fair indeed but do not ask a Minister to move in on details on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I am delighted Deputy Troy has asked that question. The Deputy said I received a large number of reports. I did and I was also briefed by my officials on those reports on an almost daily basis. The Deputy's question is a fair one. I did not micro manage but I do not know off-hand how many times I have met the chairman or the chief executives of these companies but I can get that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I want to be helpful in this situation. I do not want to be partisan in any way either, because I do not believe that is my job. If either party believes that there are pre-conditions then perhaps the WRC or the Labour Court should be the judge of whether or not they are. It is my understanding that there are no pre-conditions. When the chief executive appeared before the committee he...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: The letter has been issued.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: It is already out there. Whether that is a good or a bad thing I do not propose to comment on.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Is the Deputy asking me a question or making a statement?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I will appeal - not advise or instruct - to both parties to go to the table with a blank sheet of paper. Would that satisfy the Deputy?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Sorry, perhaps the Deputy would repeat the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I do not know the answer to that question. The Department of Social Protection administers the scheme. It has nothing to do with me, but I will try to find out the answer for the Deputy and let her know. I do not know. Bus Éireann gets approximately €20 million for the free travel scheme, or is that part €12 million? Bus Éireann overall gets €20 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: The NTA is the regulator of the bus market. It makes the decisions about licensing-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Yes, but it operates the licensing. Some reports claim that the NTA has saturated the commercial bus market through licensing. I do not understand the saturation point, which is often made by people in this forum and elsewhere. The figure, which is out in the open, is the correct one. The NTA has granted eight licences and refused 11. That was in a five-year period from-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Current Financial Situation at Bus Éireann, the Expressway Service and the Rural Transport Programme (Resumed) (1 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Yes, but that is not saturation. It was over a five-year period to the end of-----