Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 249: To ask the Minister for Transport further to Parliamentary Question No. 184 of 2 July 2008, if he will provide the details of the examination of the application by Dublin Bus for modifying the 37 bus route; the details of the consultations with Dublin Bus on this matter; the rationale, including overlap of routes, stops and so on, for deeming that the Dublin Bus proposal would give rise to competition with an existing licensed service; if he had deemed this potential competition to be significant and likely to impact negatively on the existing licensed service; if he will review this decision and continue consultations with Dublin Bus in order to seek a satisfactory solution, without necessitating an application under section 25 of the Transport Act 1958, similar to that achieved on the matter of the use of the Dublin Port Tunnel by the 41X service; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that blocking the modified 37 route could have a potentially significant negative impact on the planned improvements to the bus service throughout Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28374/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to advise the Deputy that my Department has not blocked any proposal from Dublin Bus for changes to its Route 37 bus service.

Following an initial examination of the proposal from Dublin Bus for changes to its Route 37 service, my Department, taking into consideration the existing transport services on and along the route in question, consulted with the Dublin Bus regarding the possible requirement of an application for consent in accordance with Section 25 of the Transport Act, 1958 due to the possible competition that may arise with an existing licensed service being operated by a private concern.

As I stated in my reply to Question 184 on 2nd July, 2008, following detailed consideration of the proposal, my Department advised Dublin Bus that Ministerial consent was required for the proposed change and a copy of the relevant licence detailing the route and services in question was forwarded to Dublin Bus for reference.

It is a matter for Dublin Bus, to revise its proposal and re-apply to my Department, should the Company wish to avoid competition with the licensed service. This was the case in relation to the authorisation of the Dublin Bus Route 41X service, in respect of which Dublin Bus submitted a proposal based on an alteration to the existing route.