Under the planning process, applications must be determined within four or six weeks following which there is an appeals process to deal with objections. The same mechanism should apply in the Department of Transport. If 25% of the Dublin Bus system is to be franchised over time, there is a need to devise a mechanism which will ensure new communities, in particular, will not be at a disadvantage. I appeal to the Minister to address this matter.

The No. 39 bus service needs to be extended from Blanchardstown to the Littlepace area. The delays in processing applications are unfair to Dublin Bus which is being blamed for not providing a service. Residents and commuters do not realise that the fault lies with bureaucracy in the Department. I ask for a speedy resolution of outstanding problems.

I understand that since 1996, between 40% and 50% of all licences granted have never been operated. Dublin Bus may wish to make a planning application to provide a new service or extend an existing one but an application by a private operator in respect of the same service will delay or prevent a decision. If the private operator is then granted the licence, he or she may not take it up while at the same time preventing Dublin Bus from becoming involved.

If the Minister is to proceed with ensuring 25% of the city's bus service will be allocated to private operators to create competition, it will be necessary to provided a mechanism that ensures Dublin Bus is informed of the position regarding applications for licences within four to six weeks.

Once the licence application has been processed, the notification is either cleared by the Department or Dublin Bus is asked to review its proposals in the light of the licence issued to the private operator for the route in question. Under section 25 of the Transport Act 1958, Dublin Bus has the option to seek the Minister's consent for the initiation or amendment of services operated so as to compete with a licensed passenger road service.

There is no delay in clearing notifications where there is no conflict. In cases where there is a prior licence application, the Department quickly advises Dublin Bus that the decision is being deferred until the application has been processed. In the past 12 months the Department received a total of 62 notifications from Dublin Bus. Of these, 55 were noted and the company was advised it could proceed with the proposed service changes. Five were deferred due to prior licence applications, one is currently being processed and one has been returned to the company as incomplete. I do not have information regarding the routes referred to by the Senator.

Under the Road Transport Act 1932, private operators are required to apply to the Department of Transport for a licence to operate a route or amend an existing licence. All applications for new licensed services or amendments to existing licensed services are considered on an individual basis. Depending on the nature and complexity of the application, this process can take some time. Detailed analysis is required to ascertain, for example, the extent of any overlap between the proposed service and existing licensed or other public transport services. This can include similar applications already received.

A number of other steps are involved in the licensing process such as the applicant having to provide an updated road passenger transport operator's licence, current public service vehicle licences and approvals from the Garda Síochána for pick-up and/or set-down points. Where the provision of such information by an applicant is not readily forthcoming, delays in processing applications can ensue.

Applications are dealt with on a first come, first served basis. Pressing or exceptional circumstances are taken into account in determining the order in which such an application will be dealt with. In some circumstances, while the preliminary work may have been completed on a particular application, the final decision cannot be made until other relevant applications received prior to it have been finalised.

As of today, the Department has 133 applications in hand for new route licences and amendments to existing route licences from private operators throughout the State. Of these, 69 have been duly processed and are awaiting further documentation or clarification from the operators. Some 39 offers have been made to the operators and 25 applications, representing those most recently received, are awaiting processing. Staff in the route licensing section of the Department are working overtime to expedite the processing of the applications and amendments in hand.

I hear what Senator Morrissey has said about route No. 236. It is logical to provide a service to new housing estates because if you do not, people will have to buy cars and get into the habit of using them to travel to work. I will find out where the example referred to is. Fundamentally, the time to provide services is when a new housing estate is being built. People will then get into the routine of using a service from the outset and we will not have to fight an uphill battle to get them to use a service which is put in place two or three years later. By then, their routines and habits will have developed.

According to the Senator and the reply I gave, it seems that the application of Dublin Bus conflicts with a route already serviced by a private operator. If it is the case that private operators are receiving licences which they do not subsequently use, a "use it or lose it" principle should apply – perhaps it does. The principle applies in relation to zoning for house building. If we are providing licences to private operators, it would be logical to insist that they use them or very quickly lose them. I will make checks and follow up on the route referred to by the Senator.