asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport the average cost per passenger mile in respect of (i) rail and (ii) road passengers carried by CIE for the most recent accounting period for which such information is capable of calculation.

(Dublin South-Central): I understand from CIE that the average cost per passenger mile in respect of rail carryings for 1978 was 5.18 pence.

CIE are not in a position to provide comparable figures for road passenger operations due to the difficulties involved in obtaining reasonably accurate data on actual distances travelled by bus passengers.