Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Section 13 provides that the authority may apply conditions to the grant of either an original, amended or renewed bus licence. Notwithstanding the generality of subsection (1), subsection (2) sets out a series of specific areas relating to the licence holder's provision of a service, ticketing, number of vehicles, accessibility and emissions standards in respect of which conditions may be imposed. Subsection (3) allows the authority to require licence holders to provide and publish a timetable for the licensed service and subsection (4) provides that the authority may require that the details of the licence be displayed on the vehicle providing the service.

The provisions of the section were prepared having regard to a range of practical considerations relating to the licensing of commercial bus route operations. To revert to our previous discussion, it must be remembered that the decision to apply for a licence to provide a specific bus passenger service is a commercial one taken by the applicant independently of the authority.

While a primary objective of the licensing regime in Part 2 is to promote regulated competition in the provision of licensed public bus passenger services in the public interest, the provisions of the Bill have been framed with due regard to the fact that certain aspects of the proposed bus operations are not intended to be regulated by the authority, given that decisions in those areas must be taken by the licence applicant having regard to commercial considerations.

Under the licensing regime of the Road Transport Act 1932, the Department does not interfere in the fare levels or structures of particular licensed bus services. The view is that decisions on the fare system to be applied to a commercial public bus passenger service are matters for determination by the service operator having regard to market conditions and the operator's particular circumstances. No merit is seen in revising this practice at this time, given the experience heretofore.

Section 13(3) allows the authority to require a licence holder to provide and publish a timetable for the licensed service. Subsection (4) provides that the authority may require that the details of the licence be displayed. These provisions give the authority discretion having regard to the fact that, in some bus licence applications, for example, a licence for a one-off event such as a concert or football match, these requirements would not arise. It is considered that "may" is more appropriate than the alternatives in amendments Nos. 10 and 11.