Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 388: To ask the Minister for Transport if Bus Éireann has applied to his Department for licences to extend its services in the south Sligo area; when he will be in a position to grant same in view of Sligo's poor allocation of funding under his Department's new Transport 21 plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33975/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are exempt from the requirement to hold a licence under the Road Transport Act 1932. However, since 10 January 2001, both companies are required by ministerial direction to notify the Department of any proposed new services or proposed changes to existing services at least four weeks prior to their introduction.

In order to preserve commercial confidentiality it is the Department's practice to keep details of notifications confidential until a decision is made. However, I can advise the Deputy that my Department has two outstanding notifications from Bus Éireann for bus routes in the Sligo area, which were received on 16 June 2005 and 2 August 2005. The outstanding notifications indicated above are currently being processed by my Department and a decision shall be made shortly.