Vol. 512 No. 3
36 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the reason she is not responding to applications from the private sector in view of the Government's invitation in summer 1999 to private coach operators to tender for new, feeder and orbital routes. [25823/99]
In July last I announced that the Department's guidelines for consideration of bus licence applications under the Road Transport Act, 1932, were being amended, particularly in respect of the greater Dublin area. This amendment indicated that the Department would be open to applications for routes not directly served by CIE or private operators, including feeder services providing links to the existing public transport network, orbital services in major urban areas linking outer suburban areas to each other, and radial services catering only for passengers with origins or destinations outside major urban areas.
I also indicated at that time that the Department had commenced preliminary work on a review of the options for effective regulation of the bus market with a view to introducing legislation to replace the Road Transport Act, 1932. The Government decided last month that this review of the 1932 Act should be accelerated and completed in three months and that it should be conducted with a view to the introduction of competition in Dublin bus services.
Wide consultation will take place so that all interested parties will have an opportunity to express their views on the future arrangements for regulation of the bus market, particularly in Dublin. I expect the review to be completed in February 2000.
Since my announcement on 14 July last, one licence has been granted in respect of a premium service for passengers embarking or disembarking at Dublin Airport. Approval in principle has also been given for licences in respect of services between Dublin Airport and Howth Junction and between Swords and Leixlip. However, as appropriate documentation has not yet been provided, no licence has issued for these services.
There has been a considerable increase in licence applications in recent times and this has placed pressure on staffing resources in the licensing section of my Department. This has caused considerable and regrettable delays in the processing of other applications. While some additional resources are being provided, priority will be given to completing the review within the timeframe decided by Government.
Since the Government took office, 32 applications have been received from private operators and two operators have been licensed. The Minister of State's reply is extraordinary. The licensing section of the Department has been stretched by answering two letters in two and a half years. Far from ignoring those applications, the Department should be begging these people to provide a service on all of the routes mentioned in the reply, as well as the late night services. Given that there is no legislative barrier, is it not illogical of the Government not to allow those private operators help Dublin Bus to provide the service it is currently not equipped to provide?
The Deputy is correct. There are a number of applications in the Department which need to be processed. Last July I announced my intention to proceed with the licensing of private bus operators. The Government took a decision recently which will move forward this whole process. It has decided to expedite the review of the legislation which will be completed in three months. That is being done in the interests of those applications already received and others which will be forthcoming. This is something to which I have aspired for a long time, and I welcome the Government decision to expedite the review.
We have been talking about bringing forward the review of the legislation for the past two and a half years. The deployment of the 150 buses bought out of the Luas money, welcome as they were, had no impact on Dublin's traffic, given that the demand for transport is growing faster than we can deploy buses. It makes no sense to engage in further studies when it is clearly evident that there is a demand and the only way that demand can be met quickly, in order to keep Dublin moving, is either by the provision of private buses or of additional buses for Dublin Bus. Dublin Bus does not even have enough buses to meet the growing daily demand. Will the Minister of State accept that it is too late for further studies and that we have gone beyond that point?
I concur with the Deputy's sentiments. The problem has existed for 67 years, not just two and a half years. Successive Governments, including those in which the Deputy's party participated, put up with this antiquated legislation and, as they say in Wicklow football circles, they "fumped" it. This Government has not fumped it, however. It is taking this matter by the scruff of the neck and dealing with it. I agree with the Deputy that a demand exists, but that need is now being met.
