Vol. 393 No. 4
asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if he will ensure that low and uneconomic bus fares from provincial centres to Dublin, originally introduced by Bus Éireann on a promotional basis, are not allowed to continue with the objective of putting licensed private bus operators out of business.
31.
asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if he will outline the procedure for deciding on what is an economic fare in public transport; and the sanctions or fines, if any, which are applicable where fares are clearly uneconomic and designated to create unfair competition.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 31 together.
The term "economic fare" is not defined in the Transport Acts or the Road Transport Act, 1932, which relates to licensed bus services. Sanctions or fines in relation to the charging of uneconomic fares are not provided for in the legislation.
In so far as Bus Éireann are concerned section 3 of the Transport (No. 2) Act, 1974 imposes on the board of Córas Iompair Éireann a duty to conduct their undertaking so that, after taking into account payments made to the board by the Minister for Tourism and Transport out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, their operating expenditure, including all charges properly chargeable to revenue, shall not be greater taking one year with another than the revenue of the board. Subject to that duty and general levels of increases in CIE fares approved by the Government from time to time, the determination of individual fares is a matter for the company.
It is Bus Éireann policy to keep fares at the lowest possible levels within the financial resources available to them. The use of promotional fares is a matter for the Company, which provides a range of Expressway services on a profitable basis.
