The State could generate savings of over €40 million if it introduced reforms to the services of Bus Éireann and school transport arrangements, a report commissioned by private coach operators has found.
The report carried out on behalf of the Coach Tourism & Transport Council (CTTC) of Ireland states savings of €20 million to €30 million in public service obligations subsidies paid to Bus Éireann could be achieved as a result of the introduction of a new tendering regime conducted by the National Transport Authority.
The council said private transport operators were willing and able to undertake subvented city, provincial and intercity services at a much reduced cost to the State if open tendering was introduced on a phased basis.
It also said Bus Éireann should withdraw from its loss-making Expressway (intercity) routes.
The body said that the private sector was "a major service provider on intercity routes and will provide additional capacity if required".
It also maintained that to achieve a fully integrated public transport system "all bus operators should have access to publicly funded bus stations".
The CTTC also contended that the school transport scheme was costing far too to administer.
It also said that Bus Éireann had a "conflict of interest" in both running the School Transport Scheme and operating 540 buses owned by and operated for the Department of Education.
"The CTTC estimates that the scheme could be managed and supervised within a budget of €12m (savings of around €14m per year).
We believe the scheme should be administered by the National Transport Authority, or some other State agency that does not own its own fleet. The Department of Education’s value-for-money report also suggested that the NTA “may have potential” to administer the scheme".
It also argued that school transport routes themselves “should be put out to tender at local level by the administration agency with private and state bus operators eligible to submit tenders.”