Bready busman says Donegal firms monopolise local school runs

William Leonard, of Leonard Travel, claims up to 90 per cent of Western Education and Library Board (WELB) private hire Home to School transport tenders in Londonderry and its hinterland from Strabane to Claudy are held by ROI firms.

Today the Stormont Education Committee will decide whether to address a letter to the Department of Education about the matter.

It follows a meeting in June when Committee Chair Mervyn Storey MLA spoke of “considerable concern about the provision of school transport by operators from outside Northern Ireland - from the Irish Republic - in WELB.”

Mr Leonard told the Sentinel the local Home to School market was sewn up by southern firms and argued this could be in breach of a European Commission (EC) ‘cabotage’ directive which governs the operation of the international market for bus and coach hire services in the EU.

Under EU law ‘cabotage operations’ are national road passenger services for hire and reward carried out on a temporary basis by a carrier in a host member state or the picking up and setting down of passengers within a host state.

EU regulations allow non-resident firms to operate here but Mr Leonard says EU directive EC 1073/2009 says there may be grounds for refusal if a service seriously affects the viability of a comparable service operated under one or more public service contracts.

The local bus operator also argues non-residents can be refused if the principal purpose of the service is not to carry passengers between stops located in different member states.

He told the Sentinel: “Up to 90 per cent of the private hire work in the North West geographical area is being carried out by Donegal firms...There is not one northern operator doing this sort of work in the south.

“I actually believe the south is right. That we shouldn’t be in there because of the cabotage rules. The DoE are doing nothing at all to help us,” he added.

Mr Leonard suggests the border is creating an unfair advantage for ROI based companies.

The Department of the Environment (DoE) rejected Mr Leonard’s arguments when put to them by the Sentinel.

A spokesperson explained: “The carriage of school children along a specified route by an ROI operator is defined as a Special Regular Service. ‘Special Regular Services’ means regular services, by whomsoever organised, which provide for the carriage of specified categories of passengers to the exclusion of other passengers.”

The spokesperson added: “The rules that govern access to the international market for coach and bus services are laid down under Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009. This rules, which fully comes into effect on 4th December 2011, provides that freedom to provide services constitutes a basic principle of the common transport policy and requires that carriers from all Member States be guaranteed access to international transport markets without discrimination on grounds of nationality or place of establishment.”

Asked how the DoE ensures southern operators satisfy ‘cabotage’ regulations and tender requirements the spokesperson stated: “The Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) has primary responsibility for enforcing the rules governing cabotage in Northern Ireland and its examiners have powers to prohibit vehicles and prosecute offenders where certain documents cannot be produced by the driver of a foreign vehicle at the roadside.

“New penalties have also been created that will shortly enable DVA enforcement officers to issue a Graduated Fixed Penalty Ticket or take receipt of a deposit should a foreign registered vehicle be found to be in breech of the cabotage regulations. This would normally be pending a court hearing for such offences. Should the deposit not be paid immediately DVA will also have the powers to immobilise the vehicle until such times as it is paid.”

In relation to the specific Home to School transport tender a WELB spokesperson said: “The requirements stipulated in the tender documentation and the evaluation criteria are applied to all tenderers, regardless as to whether the road passenger operator is based in Northern Ireland, or another EU member state.

“The rules on Road Transport Operator Licensing applied in Northern Ireland are based on existing EC Regulations which set out common minimum rules that all EC member states must apply to their domestic operating licensing systems.

“The tender evaluation process set out in the tender documentation was applied to all prospective tenderers regardless of whether the operator was based in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.”

Equally, WELB said Access NI contact the relevant jurisdictions for vetting drivers from ROI based firms.

The Board inspects all documents submitted in support of a tender and where appropriate these details are checked with the relevant issuing authorities.

Both EEC 684/92 and EC 12/98 permit road passenger operators to operate Home to School Transport in another member state.

The WELB make no charge to any family in respect of Home to School Transport assistance whether on Board fleet operated services or on Board contracted services. Payments in respect of all contracted services are made directly to its contractors for services rendered.”

The Sentinel asked the Department of Education for its views but no response was available at the time of going to press.