Vol. 537 No. 5
180 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the reason a licence issued to Bus Éireann to service housing estates off the western distributor road in Galway city was withdrawn and reallocated to another operator; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16902/01]
Bus Éireann is a statutorily authorised provider of passenger road services and is therefore exempt from the requirement to hold a licence under the Road Transport Act, 1932.
The company is, however, subject to statutory constraints over its operations. In particular, section 25 of the Transport Act, 1958 prohibits the company from initiating or altering a road passenger service so as to compete with a licensed passenger road service unless my consent has been obtained. The company is also subject to constraints in relation to the introduction of new services or changes to existing services which would give rise to competition with services envisaged in licence applications being considered by my Department. These constraints are imposed through a statutory direction which I issued to CIE with a view to ensuring fair treatment of all operators in the bus market.
In February 2001, Bus Éireann notified the Department of proposed service changes to one of the company's existing bus routes in Galway city that includes the operation of services on the western distributor road. My Department responded in March to the effect that the proposed changes were approved. However, it was recently drawn to the attention of my Department that some of the new services proposed by Bus Éireann would give rise to competition with services already authorised by licences held by a private operator and with services which are the subject of amendments which have been sought to those licences.
My Department is now urgently reviewing the matter. Bus Éireann has been advised that the outcome of the review may have the effect of prohibiting it from implementing the proposed service alterations in Galway city.
