CIÉ will be granted a fares increase, Minister for Transport Mr Brennan confirmed today.
Mr Brennan also confirmed the company was to be broken up and that its constituent companies would soon be facing competition from the private sector.
He said the level of increase will be announced next week but that it would not be the 20 per cent the company is seeking.
Iarnród Éireann, Bus Éireann and Bus Átha Cliath will be become separate State companies and a new regulator to oversee their operation will be introduced.
New private entrants into the market will also be answerable to the regulator, whose responsibilities will include granting licences and routes to private operators, regulating fares, regulating safety and monitoring compliance with regulations.
The regulator will also allocate Exchequer funding for particular projects. The Minister has not yet decided what form the regulator will take.
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| The Minister for Transport Mr Brennan has granted a fares increase to the CIÉ. |
Mr Brennan said he hoped private companies would enter the market by 2004 beginning with the issuing of franchises for routes in the Greater Dublin Area. He said 25 per cent of routes should made available in the first year with more being offered in future years.
Speaking to a meeting of the Public Transport Partnership Forum in Dublin today, Mr Brennan said: "I recognise that market forces on their own may not always deliver the required level of public services and that there is therefore a need to intervene in the market."
He later told journalists that where licences had been issued for unprofitable use the regulator would offer financial help.
Although no specific plans for the introduction of private operators into long-distance bus and rail services were announced, the Minister said competition was intended in these areas. He also said he would next week publish a consultants report entitled, Regulation of Bus Services Outside the Greater Dublin Area.
He assured staff at the CIÉ holding company there would be no job losses in the restructuring and told unions they would help to develop the reform plan.