Ciarán Cannon (Fine Gael)

Section 10(1)(a) sets out to do two things, the first of which it does not have the capacity to do, namely, decide what demand or potential demand for a service might exist. The authority would not have the expertise or business acumen to do this. The subsection also seeks to protect current public bus passenger services. However, subsection (1)(b)(iii) goes a long way towards doing so and, with a slight beefing up, could dispense with the need for subsection (1)(a). In certain cases, the protection of those services might be laudable, but the first element of the subsection, which could stop a service from being provided because, in someone's opinion, there was no demand, would stifle competition and the creation of new business.