Dublin Bus is looking at the potential of introducing all-night services in the capital. The State-owned transport company said it was examining this issue as part of a review of its existing Nitelink services.

Conventional Dublin Bus services run until 11.30pm or midnight, but the company also operates late-night Nitelink services, until up to 4am in some cases, on Friday and Saturday nights. Asked whether it was considering operating all-night services throughout the week, a spokeswoman for Dublin Bus said “everything was under review” as part of consultations with the National Transport Authority .

Details that the company was considering the possibility of all-night services were set out in a question-and-answers document given to the National Bus and Railworkers Union in advance of talks on controversial plans to put out to tender 10 per cent of bus routes operated by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann.

Crucial talks on these potential privatisation plans, which have been drawn up by the National Transport Authority, will take place at the Labour Relations Commission today. Unions have warned that if the plan goes ahead, it will inevitably lead to industrial unrest at the transport companies. They fear the tendering proposals could lead to the privatisation of routes which up to now have been run by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann and result in a deterioration of their members’ terms and conditions.

The tendering plan has been supported by Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe. He said the move would offer “more choice to bus-users all over the country”. However, he has said Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are not being privatised.

Under the current plans, orbital routes in Dublin rather than city centre services, such as those between Blackrock and Rialto, and Chapelizod and the Square shopping centre in Tallaght , will be put out to tender. Bus Éireann routes earmarked for tender include commuter services from Dublin to Tullamore, Portlaoise and Kildare, as well as a number of routes in Waterford city.

In the question-and-answers document, Dublin Bus said it would be submitting tenders to continue operating the routes in question. “[The] company will be putting their best bid forward. However, this will include having to look at securing collective agreements [on] changes for these routes.”

It suggested that staff would have to move to new operators under a transfer of undertakings arrangement if it lost some of its existing routes under the tendering process. The company said it had no money to pay for a redundancy programme. “The National Transport Authority will have to deal with this issue if it occurs.”