Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 529: To ask the Minister for Transport if he has concluded his review of the reform of the bus market; and when he will make a decision on the Dublin Bus application for funding. [15546/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I am committed to the delivery of a high quality, effective public transport system and Transport 21 is testimony to this. I am also committed to modernising the regulatory framework governing public transport, not just in Dublin, but nationally.

At the launch of Transport 21, I said I was convinced that we need a new approach to transport in the greater Dublin area, delivered through a single authority with the power to ensure joined-up thinking and delivery across all transport modes. In advancing the regulatory agenda, discussions have taken place with the key stakeholders. These discussions form part of a process of engagement that will facilitate and inform the determination of the appropriate structure for the new framework and supporting legislation.

This process will also be informed by the work of the team appointed to finalise the remit, structures and human resource requirements of the proposed Dublin transport authority. I have now received the report of the team and am reflecting on its recommendations. I will finalise my consideration of how best to proceed with public transport reform in the context of the institutional structures recommended by the team. I hope to be in a position to publish legislation on the matter in the current year.

Dublin Bus submitted an application for funding to me on 20 January 2006 for additional fleet requirements for 2006 and 2007. My Department is examining this application in the context of Transport 21, the future bus needs of the Dublin Area, and the bus network review. I will decide on the application when the assessment has been completed and having regard to the outcome of my deliberations on the reform of the bus market, which I intend to conclude in the coming weeks.