Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 20: To ask the Minister for Transport when the proposed Dublin Transport Authority will come into being. [13630/09]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for Transport the position regarding the establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority; if a chief executive officer has been found; the amount of staff hired for the DTA; if a premises has been secured; when he expects the DTA to be operational; the selection criteria and marking scheme he will use to select members of the public to become members of the Dublin Transport Authority; if he will hold interviews for qualified applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13809/09]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Transport when he will appoint the new chief executive officer of the Dublin Transport Authority; the persons he plans to appoint to the board of the DTA; the mechanism for appointing members of the public to the DTA board and advisory body; when he will publish promised legislation to transform the DTA into a new national transport regulator; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13671/09]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 20, 22 and 29 together.

My Department is proceeding with preparations for the establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority (DTA) as soon as possible during 2009. A key part of those preparations is the recruitment of a Chief Executive Officer and the necessary recruitment process is currently underway. In accordance with the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008, final decisions on the provision of funding and staff numbers will be taken following the receipt of proposals from the Authority in that regard. The new CEO will also be responsible for sourcing suitable office accommodation for the Authority.

In accordance with section 14 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008, the Minister for Transport is responsible for appointing the members of the Dublin Transport Authority. Membership of the Authority will comprise a chairperson, 3 ex officio members and 6 ordinary members. The chairperson and 6 ordinary members must be persons who, in the opinion of the Minister for Transport have wide experience in relation to transport, industrial, commercial, financial, land use planning or environmental matters, the organisation of workers or administration.

Mr. Tom Mulcahy is chairperson designate of the new Authority. I recently announced my decision to invite applications from people who wish to be considered for appointment as an ordinary member of the new Authority. The application process is straightforward. Applicants must simply be able to demonstrate how they meet the criteria in the areas referred to above. The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday 24 April next. Full details of the application process have been published on the Department of Transport website www.transport.ie. The purpose of the application process is to encourage people who believe that they can make a positive contribution to the development of the transport system in the Greater Dublin Area to put their name forward for consideration. The appointment of members is at my sole discretion and I reserve the right as to who I appoint.

The procedure for the appointment of the 24 members of the Dublin Transport Advisory Council is set out in section 17 of the 2008 Act. The procedure is quite detailed. However, in essence posts on the Council, apart from the post of chairperson, fall into 3 categories as follows:

ex officio members,

members nominated by members of the local authorities in the Greater Dublin Area, by the Dublin and Mid-East Regional Authorities, by ICTU and by the Garda Commissioner, and

members representing various interests, for example, business, community interests and the public interest.

With regard to the last category, section 17 provides that the Minister for Transport may prescribe organisations which shall be invited to nominate candidates for membership of the Council in that category. I propose to invite applications in due course from organisations that wish to be prescribed for that purpose.

In January 2009, the Government approved the General Scheme of the Public Transport Regulation Bill which contains proposals for a new bus licensing regime which will replace the Road Transport Act 1932 and the provisions of the Transport Act 1958 that relate to the provision of bus services by the State bus companies. It is proposed that responsibility for bus licensing and public transport services contracts nationwide will be assigned to the DTA under the Bill, which will also provide for the absorption of the Commission for Taxi Regulation into the DTA. The Bill will also provide for the renaming of the Dublin Transport Authority as the National Transport Authority given its proposed national focus in relation to commercial bus licensing, future bus and rail subvention and the regulation of small public service vehicles. The Public Transport Regulation Bill is now being drafted and it will be published as soon as possible.