Galway City bus subsidy probe results due by end of year
An EU investigation into the subsidies received by Bus Eireann to operate the 10 routes in Galway City is due to be published before the end of the year.
MEP Jim Higgins, Ireland's member of the European Parliament's Transport Committee has confimed this after he held a meeting with the European Commissioner for Competition to seek an update.
"I am very frustrated that this investigation into public transport in Galway has been on-going for so long. It started in 2007, and will only be complete by the end of this year," he said.
Every five years, the National Transport Authority (NTA) renews its contract with Bus Eireann to provide city bus services in Galway. The next period is due to run from 2014 to 2019.
Yesterday the NTA went out to public consultation – their proposal, as it has been in the past, is to directly offer new contracts to Bus Eireann to operate the city service.
The NTA is proposing to put out to tender 10 per cent of routes from 2016, a move which MEP Higgins said was "too little, too late”.
“None of the routes in Galway will be put out to tender, but all of Waterford city's routes will be to tender.
"This situation is wrong. This week the Commission indicated to me, that they are not happy with the situation in Galway, but time is of the essence. If a new contract is issued by the National Transport Authority and Bus Eireann, then private operators will lose out for another five years.
“What I want to see is a level playing field. The ten Bus Eireann routes receive subsidies; the three operated by City Direct receive absolutely nothing."
Mr Higgins insisted he did not want to see an end to subsidised public transport in Galway: “All I want to see is a tendering process. The company that can provide the best service with the least amount of public subvention should be running the bus service in Galway. Real competition will bring about real savings and a better public transport system for Galway. That is my aim."