Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 155: To ask the Minister for Transport the number of applications received by his Department in respect of new bus routes in the greater Dublin area; the areas they apply to; when his Department first reviewed each application; and the reason he has failed to make a decision on them. [13943/04]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Private operators must apply to my Department for licences to operate road passenger services in the State in accordance with the Road Transport Act 1932.

Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are exempt from the requirement to hold a licence under the Act. Since 10 January 2001 both companies are required, by ministerial direction, to notify my Department of proposed new services or changes to existing services at least four weeks prior to their introduction.

At present my Department has received a total of five notifications and licence applications for the greater Dublin area. The dates of receipt are as follows:

In accordance with long-standing practice, details of applications and notifications remain confidential until a decision is made. At present my Department is processing the outstanding applications and the notification indicated above.

All licence applications and notifications are dealt with on a first come, first served basis. The processing of applications and notifications involves detailed analysis 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 licence applications already received or prior notifications received from either Dublin Bus or Bus Éireann. Pressing or exceptional circumstances can be taken into account in determining the order in which applications are dealt with. In some circumstances, while the preliminary work may have been completed on a particular application, a final decision cannot be made until other relevant applications or notifications received prior to it have been finalised.

Decisions on the applications and notification that I have mentioned are expected in the near future.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for Transport if applications were made for an operating licence for a Newry, Dundalk, Dublin bus route in 2003; the number of applications that were made for the route; when his Department received applications; and the details of applicants. [13980/04]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Persons operating international transport services by coach or bus between EU member states must hold a community authorisation under Council Regulation (EEC) No. 684/92, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 11/98, on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus.

During 2003 my Department did not receive any applications for community authorisation to operate services between Newry, Dundalk and Dublin. At present it has six CA applications to operate cross-Border services along the route. They are being processed in collaboration with the competent authorities in Northern Ireland, as required by the EU regulations.

In accordance with long-standing practice for processing licence and authorisation applications, details of these applications remain confidential until a decision is made.