Vol. 480 No. 7
18 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the differences in responsibilities between the old Department of Transport, Energy and Communications and the new Department of Public Enterprise; and the reasons behind the title and concept of the new Department. [15058/97]
The differences in the responsibilities between the old Department of Transport, Energy and Communications and the new Department of Public Enterprise are that the natural resources elements of the former Department of Transport, Energy and Communications namely the exploration and mining and petroleum affairs divisions have been transferred to the Department of Marine and Natural Resources.
The reason behind the title and concept of the Department of Public Enterprise is that the former Department of Transport, Energy and Communications had become de facto responsible for most of the larger commercial semi-State companies and for much of the State's involvement in the economy. It was decided to recognise this explicitly by renaming the Department and establishing it as the Department of Public Enterprise, thus underlining the Governments commitment, as contained in our document, An Action Programme for the Millennium, to have “growing, vigorous, healthy companies, serving the public well and giving high quality employment at home and abroad, regardless of any evolution in structure”.
May I take it that all of the functions vis-à-vis overseeing competition in the road transport and haulage sector, for example between Bus Éireann and private bus operators, still reside with the Department? The Minister has responsibility for ensuring there is a level playing field and fair competition, an onerous and important responsibility separate from public enterprise. She should not lose sight of this even though the title of the Department has changed.
I accept it is an onerous responsibility and I am lucky to have someone like Deputy Jacob as Minister of State in the Department which has myriad interests of huge importance to the State. I have not lost sight of the need for competition. The functions regarding competition rules and the need for public utilities to become competitive in accordance with the timescale laid down by the European Commission remain constant.
Does the Minister attach any priority to legislation mooted in the past to deregulate competition in the bus sector, particularly on provincial routes? Does she propose to bring forward legislation in this regard?
That is a separate issue but I will be glad to respond to the Deputy in writing.
