Vol. 518 No. 6
173 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the level of support her Department affords to Dublin Bus for so-called social routes; the amount allocated in each of the past three years; if a specific budget is allocated for these routes; her future plans in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13010/00]
174 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she has had any discussions, at any stage since coming into office, with Dublin Bus with regard to the adequate funding of so-called social routes; if Dublin Bus have provided her with details of the extent and cost of providing services on such routes; if so, if she will outline the routes and the costs in question; her strategy, if any, to address the funding deficit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13011/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 173 and 174 together.
The Exchequer subvention is paid to CIE rather than to the individual companies in respect of the provision of socially necessary, non-commercial public transport services. The allocation of this subvention to the individual subsidiary companies is a matter for the CIE board.
The amount of subvention for the past three years allocated by CIE to Dublin Bus was as follows: 1997 – £7,000,000; 1998 – £8,895,000; 1999 – £13,244,000. The subvention has not been based on detailed costings per route. It had been the Government's intention to sign a public service contract, PSC, with CIÉ/Dublin Bus, in order to replace the traditional Exchequer annual subvention to CIÉ with a transparent mechanism, under which payments could be directly related to the uneconomic services provided. However, when I put proposals to Government for the introduction of a public service contract with Dublin Bus, the Attorney General advised that this would not be possible under existing legislation.
In reviewing the regulatory regime for the bus market in Dublin the issue of how to support necessary but uneconomic services is being considered.
