Vol. 531 No. 4
120 Mr. Farrelly asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the reason her Department issued a carrier licence to a company (details supplied) in County Monaghan on a route already serviced by a licensed carrier when her Department was already aware that a High Court case was pending against this company, which was unlicensed on this route to carry fee-paying passengers. [6082/01]
An application was received in September 1998 from the party in question who wished to operate a bus service from Carrickmacross to Dundalk Regional Technical College via Kingscourt. In late 1998, the Department became aware that another bus operator had initiated High Court proceedings against the applicant relating to the alleged illegal operation of a service from Kingscourt to Dundalk Regional Technical College and in competition with a licensed service. Due to the legal proceedings, consideration of the application was suspended and this position was notified to the two parties concerned.
However, in the context of my Department's review of the regulation of the bus market, legal advice received last year in relation to the processing of applications stated that there should be no unreasonable delay in taking whatever steps could be taken to process licence applications. In the light of this advice and in response to pressure from the applicant for a decision on the application, an offer of a licence to provide a service from Dún-an-Rí to Dundalk Regional Technical College with no stop in Kingscourt was made to the applicant in September 2000. The restriction regarding a stop at Kingscourt was to avoid direct competition with another licensed operator who was licensed to operate a feeder service from Kingscourt to Ardee to connect with his licensed service from Kilbeg to Dundalk Regional Technical College at Ardee.
The applicant maintained that there was a necessity for a direct service to be provided from Kingscourt to Dundalk Regional Technical College. My Department considered the adequacy of the existing licensed service on this route and found that there were no grounds to offer a licence for an additional service between Kingscourt and Dundalk Regional Technical College. The applicant accepted the restricted terms and the licence was issued on 25 January 2001. My Department has acted in accordance with the requirements of the 1932 Act and policy guidelines in relation to bus route licensing. The licence issued does not allow the party in question to operate in direct competition with another licensed operator.
