Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 9 Dec 2003

Vol. 576 No. 5

Written Answers. - Passenger Licences.

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

372 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Transport the details of all bus licences issues to Air Coach since the formation of the company; the licences which still stand and which have since been withdrawn; when these were withdrawn; the reasons for their withdrawal; if his Department places a value on these licences; if so, the value in each case; further to the recent sale of this company at a multi-million euro profit, the plans he has to seek a clawback for the State for the value of these licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30187/03]

Minister for Transport (Mr. Brennan):

The company in question was issued with the following licences from my Department for the operation of bus passenger services.

Licence number	Route	Licence issued	Expiry date	Status of services
99054	Mullingar – Dublin Airport	2/6/1999	1/6/2000	Never operated by Company
99099	Ballsbridge – Dublin Airport	2/9/1999	18/6/2004	Operating
00082	Greystones – Dublin Airport	16/8/2000	15/8/2001	Never operated by Company
00083	Tallaght – Dublin Airport	17/8/2000	16/8/2001	Never operated by Company
00084	Rathgar – Dublin Airport	17/8/2000	16/8/2001	Never operated by Company
00085	Leopardstown – Dublin Airport	1/5/2003	30/4/2004	Operating

Annual passenger licences issued by my Department are valid for a period of one year. No licences have been withdrawn. The four licences shown as not having been operated, were not renewed and therefore expired one year after issue.

The company has advised my Department that a controlling interest in the company has been acquired by another party, but the company remains the holder of the current licences.

As regards the question of the value of licences, the attention of the Deputy is drawn to section 18 of the Road Transportation Act 1932 which provides that licences are not transferable by the licensee. They are therefore not tradable commodities. However, the Act gives the Minister discretion to transfer a licence where the ownership of the passenger road service, the subject of the licence, has been transferred.