Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The Road Transport Act, 1932, as amended, provides the statutory basis for regulating the provision of public bus services by private bus operators. In accordance with the legislation, private bus operators apply to my Department for licences to operate scheduled bus passenger services within the State. Bus Éireann is not subject to licensing in accordance with the provisions of the 1932 Road Transport Act, as amended. However, the initiation or alteration of a bus service by the Company is subject to compliance with the necessary regulatory 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.

I can confirm that my Department received a proposal from Bus Éireann to provide bus passenger services in Ennis. On 20 November 2007, the proposal was noted by my Department and the Company was advised accordingly. The introduction of this new service is an operational matter for Bus Éireann. On 29 January 2008, in accordance with the Road Traffic Act 1932, my Department issued a licence to a private operator for an Ennis town service. All licences issued have standard conditions associated with them and compliance with those conditions is the responsibility of the service operator in each instance. A condition of all licences includes the requirement whereby the service must be in operation in its entirety within 4 months from the date of issue of the licence.