Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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644. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to parliamentary Question No. 723 of 31 January 2017, if he will provide an explanation for the reasons provided by NewERA for being of the view that there were shortcomings in the previous business plan submitted by Bus Éireann management to address the loss making situation in its commercial Expressway business. [5842/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​As I previously indicated to the Deputy, during the course of 2016 Bus Éireann management worked on developing a business plan to address the loss making situation in its commercial Expressway business. Several drafts of Bus Éireann's proposals were presented to my Department and NewERA – my Department's financial advisors – and were discussed. These discussions highlighted some shortcomings that existed in the draft proposals.

NewERA's analysis was mirrored by the analysis provided to the Board of the Company in a separate report commissioned by it and conducted by Grant Thornton. That report, a copy or version of which, I understand the Deputy has seen, highlighted shortcomings across a number of areas relating to the commercial rationale, financing, implementation, sensitivity and risk analysis and the necessity to consider both State Aid and competition law interactions. These were similarly identified by NewERA as areas which required further consideration by the Company in its observations as submitted to my Department.

Arising from the Board's consideration of the Grant Thornton report, the company has now embarked upon developing a new plan to address the company's loss making situation and restore it to a sustainable future, and it aims to have this plan in a few weeks' time.