Galway Bay fm newsroom - Galway's private bus operators will be able to meet increased demand during the Bus Éireann strike under existing State licences.
Current legislation enables private operators - such as Galway companies Citylink and GoBus - to increase the number of services they run daily on their licenced routes.
However, they cannot start new routes that they are not licenced for.
The NTA says it will not give permission to run new services on routes that are served only by Bus Éireann - even if the strike goes on indefinitely.
One of the country’s biggest private operators, Galway-based firm Gobus, has to cancel eight services a day between Cork and Dublin because it operates from Bus Éireann-owned stations in the two cities.
However, the company also operates 17 services a day between Dublin, Galway and Dublin Airport.
According to the Irish Times, Gobus says it's not in competition with Bus Éireann on the Galway route because Bus Éireann does not have a direct service between the two cities.
Meanwhile, Bus Feda in Donegal said they were up 25 to 30 per cent on normal services since the strike began.
The company operates between Donegal and Galway.
