Results 8,861-8,880 of 34,616 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: If there is a lack of competition in a particular region and strong competition in another, what is the difference in cost?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: I want to deal with the buses for now. Where are the regional differences? Do the witnesses have that information? As the Committee of Public Accounts, we are trying to find out if we are getting value for money. There are lots of activities in Irish life in respect of which we know the cost, including the cost of surfacing a kilometre of road in one county versus another county, which is...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Were there many cases this summer where Bus Éireann was unable to get an acceptable contractor to fill a route for this school year and it had to use its own bus? How often does that happen on the thousands of routes?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: What does Ms Flynn mean by "direct award"?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: I raised the issue because the witnesses mentioned it as the reason a public resource was needed to fill the gap. However, when I asked about the size of the gap, they told me that they did not have that information. Do the witnesses follow me?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: The greater Dublin area.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: There must be trends. Historically, Bus Éireann probably knows where there will be strong competition and where it will be lucky to get a contractor. In the latter situation, does the contractor effectively name his or her price?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: I know he or she does not name it, but the contractor knows the business and that there is no one else.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: A what?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Okay.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Yes, but does Mr. Kent understand from where my questions are coming?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: It is commercially sensitive information and Bus Éireann might not want to release it.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: We will only take it that far so, but are there regions where similar types of service are provided albeit with a variation of 20% or 30% compared with other regions? I am not asking our witnesses to name the regions, but does that happen? It must happen where there is strong competition.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: No. The witnesses are missing my-----

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: I am not asking about how Bus Éireann reaches a price. We know what the price is based on, but I have moved beyond that point. Having got its price via the proper procedure, are there regions that consistently have higher prices than other regions with similar routes? I will not ask the witnesses to name them, as they will claim that they might be giving a competitive advantage or...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: It took me a long time just to get one of the witnesses to say that.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: We know why. I just want to know the outcome, that being, the figure. Can Bus Éireann send us information on the variations without identifying the regions? After asking my questions, I still have no sense of the variations in the average price that market conditions dictate in different regions. Some places must be below the average price while others must be above it. If the...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: We have a report before us. I just want to know the variation if the average price per student per mile travelled in one county is X, less than X in another county and more than X in a third. I am not asking the witnesses to disclose contractors or counties, as they might-----

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: I am making it clear that we do not want to know the regions. Just give us the range in variations. It could all be in the same county for all I know. I am not asking the witnesses to breach any commercial sensitivity, but we cannot have a notion of whether there is value for money if we cannot even get comparative percentages.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Naturally.