It is a statutory function of the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 and EU Regulation 1370/2007, to determine the appropriate mix of directly awarded and competitively tendered PSO services.
Bus services are provided under Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts and by licensed commercial bus operators. For contracted services, the Authority must review the performance of each company and publish quarterly performance reports.
Other bus services, such as the Rural Transport Programme, came under the aegis of the National Transport Authority in April 2012.