James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the role his Department has in the provision of two bus services to utilise the new port tunnel; the reason the service lasted for only one day due to the lack of a licence from his Department; the reason such a public transport service needs a licence. [17999/07]

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 necessary regulatory requirement of giving advance notice to my Department and with the provisions of Section 25 of the Transport Act, 1958 concerning competition with licensed private operators. On 23rd March, 2007 Dublin Bus notified my Department of its proposal to re-route one of its Route 33X services via the Port Tunnel. On the 12th April, 2007 the Company was informed by my Department that it could proceed with the re-routing via the Port Tunnel. This service is currently in operation.

A further notification was received from the Company on 22nd March 2007 to reroute four of the existing six services on the 41X route via the Port Tunnel. Following an assessment of these proposals, my Department concluded that the changes proposed would give rise to competition with a prior application for a commercial service for which a licence has been sought under the Road Transport Act, 1932. Consideration of this prior application is at an advanced stage. In accordance with standard procedures to avoid uncontrolled competition between operators, my Department informed Dublin Bus that a decision on the proposed changes was being deferred until such time as the prior application is finalised at which time my Department will revert to the Company. The re-routing of the Route 41X services through the Port Tunnel has not, therefore, been authorised by my Department.