In the past two weeks, numerous articles have been written in the press about the financial state of Bus Éireann, with losses of €6 million last year and projected losses of €7 million this year. While these losses are significant and unsustainable in the long run, services to people across the country should not be jeopardised.

The semi-State company faults Expressway services for significant losses and is seeking to separate it from the rest of the firm. Bus Éireann contracted Grant Thornton to carry out a report on the losses and how they could be tackled. It seems the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, and the Government are accepting that it is inevitable that there will be cuts to routes all over the country and cuts to overtime for staff which, in itself, will lead to a reduction in services.

There is no quick fix for this challenge, but there needs to be a constructive approach from all stakeholders, including the National Transport Authority, management, unions and the Government, regarding how services can be sustained into the future. The Grant Thornton report has been freely available since last week, yet the Minister, Deputy Ross, claimed he has not read it. In the interest of being helpful, I made a copy of the report I received and left it in the Minister's pigeonhole yesterday. How could he brief the Cabinet yesterday on a report that the Taoiseach claimed he had not received or read? The report recommended route closures across the country and job losses, and is generating real anxiety and worry across the country from people who rely on public transport.

The Minister seems to be ducking and diving from playing any role in how access to bus services will impact on the public. The Taoiseach and Government have a role to play.

The Deputy is a great man for ducking and diving.

The silence of the Minister, Deputy Ross, is truly deafening and is certainly unnatural for him. We read in the Sunday Independent how he chose to nitpick sloppy grammatical errors rather than discuss the actual content of the most recent road safety report at a time when the number of deaths on the roads is increasing. He seems unable to take ministerial accountability seriously and has decided to revert to being a journalistic commentator and master of distraction.

Has the Minister not read the Grant Thornton report? What exactly did he brief the Cabinet on yesterday? Does he agree with the Grant Thornton report, which states that there are limited strategic reasons for the State to have ownership of a commercial bus business? There is a role for commercial activity in a regulated market, but will the Government stand by and allow commercial activity to cherry-pick lucrative routes and allow many regions, including the Taoiseach's area, to be deprived of public transport?

Deputy Troy is new to this, but if everybody starts running over time in this way we will not be able to keep to the schedule.

I will abide by the ruling of the Ceann Comhairle. The Minister, Deputy Ross, is not responsible for what has happened. Bus Éireann commissioned a report from Grant Thornton into the circumstances and conditions that apply to the company. As I pointed out yesterday, the commercial arm of Bus Éireann, Expressway, is losing €6 million a year. That is the reality and it is a commercial problem.

It is important to note that those losses have not been caused by Government funding because Bus Éireann's PSO network is performing very well, financially and operationally. Last year it received €40 million in PSO funding, 17% more than in 2015. The PSO services carried almost 32 million people, an increase of 5% on the previous year. The new chief executive asked what the company needed to do in this regard.

The losses related to Expressway services, which compete with other operators. There has been very strong growth in the commercial bus market, with almost 23 million people using commercial buses in 2015. This growth has not been felt in the Expressway arm of Bus Éireann.

As I stated yesterday, contrary to some reports a glut of new licences has not been issued in recent years. In fact, only eight licences have issued since 2011 while 11 applications were rejected. These changes to the bus market have seen some towns and villages lose services. However, some areas that lost commercial services have seen public service obligation services put in place by the National Transport Authority in recent years to ensure connectivity and that the people the Deputy referred to have a service.

The Minister, Deputy Ross, has already commented that, in the context of a decision to be made following discussions between management and trade unions in Bus Éireann, the National Transport Authority and the Government will see to it that services will be replaced if there is a reduction in them. This is not the first time this has happened. There is quite an extensive rural transport scheme in operation and the Government will see to it that it is maintained in the interest of people throughout the country.

The Government is the main stakeholder in Bus Éireann, so it has a role to play, and Deputy Ross is the Minister with responsibility for transport, so he has a role to play. I thank the Taoiseach for repeating back to me what I already know and have put on the record of the House. I asked what the Minister briefed the Cabinet on yesterday. Does the Taoiseach believe that the Minister did not see a copy of a report that is freely accessible to the Members of the House? If the Minister did not see it, why did he not seek a copy of the report from Bus Éireann, which has it since November?

The Taoiseach spoke about the route licences and how they were issued. Seat capacity on the route between Dublin and Limerick has grown by 111% since 2010. Seat capacity on the route between Dublin and Cork has grown by 128% since 2010. There is over-capacity on certain routes while other routes will be starved. Will the Taoiseach commit to review how licences are issued? I understand a report was commissioned and that it is on the Minister's desk, but I am wondering if we will have to wait for that report to be leaked so that we can have a meaningful debate on how we will ensure that every region in the country has the confidence that it will have a sustainable public transport service.

The Deputy is being very hard on the Minister.

The Deputy is being very hard on him at the start of a new session. The Minister confirmed to the Cabinet yesterday that he had not received the report but that, from what he had read about it in newspapers and elsewhere, the focus seemed to be more on the structure of the company and the conditions that apply there than on individual routes. He has already commented publicly that we will not see a diminution of service for places in rural Ireland that have lost out.

The Deputy is quite right that those who travel on them see the number and quality of buses - no more than the new ones Bus Éireann itself has bought - that are on the motorways. However, the fact of the matter is that it is losing €6 million a year and that needs to be addressed, which is now a matter for the management and the trade unions. The Government also has an interest. It has invested €40 million of public money into it. As I stated, despite the perception, it is not the case that there is some mysterious glut of new licences on the market. The process of granting licences can be reviewed and I will bring that to the attention of the Minister. In everyone's interests, I hope the discussions that will take place between the company and the unions on the matter-----

What about the Government's role?

-----will be constructive and progressive and that we can move on and continue to provide services for people. However, it is losing €6 million a year, which is a problem.