Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 351: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the number of routes operated by Dublin Bus; the number of buses assigned to each route and the passengers carried; and the change that has occurred in respect of these numbers between 2000 and 2006. [17090/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I have no function in relation to these matters. They are day-to-day operational matters for Bus Átha Cliath.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 352: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the proportion of the route covered by bus priority in respect of each Dublin Bus route. [17091/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The deployment of buses on routes with bus priority is an operational matter for Dublin Bus and I have asked the company to provide any available information regarding this matter directly to the Deputy.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 353: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the passengers carried by Dublin Bus in each year from 2000 to 2006. [17092/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Passenger carryings by Dublin Bus over the period since 2000 are as follows:

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 354: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the reason his Department has not licensed Dublin Bus to use the Port Tunnel and recently intervened to ban the 41X from using the tunnel; and the public policy benefits from his decision. [17093/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The initiation or alteration of a bus service by Dublin Bus is subject to compliance with the requirement of giving advance notice to my Department and to compliance with the provisions of Section 25 of the Transport Act 1958 concerning competition with licensed private operators. Under these arrangements, Dublin Bus is now operating routes 33X and 142 for travel through the Dublin Port Tunnel.

Separately, my Department has an application from a private operator to provide a commercial express bus service, without State subvention, from Swords to the City Centre, via the Dublin Port Tunnel. This application was made prior to receipt of a notification from Dublin Bus for a service along a similar route.

In accordance with standard regulatory procedures, the application from the private bus operator, made under the provisions of the Road Transport Act, 1932, as amended, has to be considered first and is currently under consideration. Hence, the Dublin Bus application has to await the decision on the prior application and Dublin Bus has been advised of this.

I recognise the importance of the licensing regime governing the bus sector being in keeping with consumer needs for the provision of a quality public transport system. I accept that the Road Transport Act, 1932 and the Transport Act, 1958 are in need of reform and I will be pursuing this in line with the commitments in the Programme for Government in relation to reforming bus licensing to facilitate the optimum provision of services by providing a level playing field for all market participants.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 355: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the number of additional buses for Dublin in 2007; and the way these buses are allocated across the various depots. [17368/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Dublin Bus took delivery of 100 additional buses in 2006 for which Exchequer funding of €30m was approved. 42 of the buses will be in service by the end of June and the remainder by September. The allocation of these buses across the depots is a matter for Dublin Bus.