Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 45:

In page 42, before section 52, to insert the following new section:

"52.—(1) The Authority shall issue additional public service contracts where it can be shown by any person or body corporate that-

(a) there is a requirement for such service in the general economic interest; and

(b) a public service operator has the capacity to provide such a service.

(2) The Authority shall ensure there is a facility in the Authority to accept and consider any such proposal under subsection (1).".

The amendment arises from my concerns over the immense power vested in the authority over Dublin's transport network. The Bill allows the authority to be both a regulator and provider of transport services. This creates a conflict of interest for the authority which could cause problems.

Under section 52 the authority will have exclusive power to determine what it believes are the needs of Dublin's commuters and the organisations involved in providing public transport. The amendment seeks to allow another body, either Dublin Bus or a private operator, to express a belief that there is a requirement for the expansion of a service or the provision of an additional service, and to ask the Dublin transport authority to consider this request and publish a view whether it believes this additional service is needed and whether it will provide it. Also, if the authority will not provide it, it should explain why this is the case.

I have tried to make the amendment more reasonable by making clear that the organisation seeking to demonstrate that an additional transport capacity is needed must be able to demonstrate that is in the clear economic interest of the region, as laid out in the early sections of this Bill. We must also ensure the operator has the capacity to provide the service. We do not want frivolous organisations wasting the time of the public and the Dublin transport authority by putting forward recommendations for services they are not able to provide.

The amendment asks the Dublin transport authority to consider the proposals and recommendations from other organisations in the greater Dublin region to dilute in some way the power this organisation will have and allow it to consider competing views. I hope in some cases that these competing views, if met, would be in the interests of commuters in the Dublin region.