Vol. 576 No. 1
273 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Transport the position regarding the bus service in the Dublin area; if 25% of the services will be private buses; the effect this will have on the elderly with bus passes and the public with yearly passes; and his views on whether there will be a reduction in the quality of service. [29193/03]
I set out my policy objectives for public transport reform in my November 2002 statement to the public transport partnership forum and to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport in June 2003. These detailed proposals can be summarised as follows: as Minister I will continue to set the overall regulatory policy and approve the broad public transport investment strategy; within that regulatory and investment framework, an independent body will be established to procure public transport services, regulate public transport and allocate current and capital funding for specific purposes from an overall allocation provided by the Exchequer; franchising will be the primary means of procuring bus services in the greater Dublin area; the independent body will also regulate public transport fares and set and enforce quality standards for public transport services. CIE will be dissolved and Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann, and Iarnród Éireann will be established as independent commercial State companies with strong commercially focused boards.
