Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the presence of the representatives of the National Transport Authority. I hope the knowledge that local administrators have will be retained. In my area the administrators do more than just make sure a bus turns up. In some cases they are socially connected to the people in the sense that if a person is missing from a particular service they are often the first to alert the emergency services. If an elderly person living alone in an isolated area does not appear for his or her usual pick-up by a rural bus service the administrator, who is invariably from the local community, will either check by phone with a neighbour or call the emergency services. Whatever about the administration and reporting mechanisms, local knowledge is critical. We have seen all too often with the so-called positive changes made to the roll-out of public services that the further one removes the service from the end-user the more one makes it impersonal and one loses the connection with the individual. I am most concerned about that.

Mr. Murphy corresponded with me recently on the hackney issue, with which I have a major problem. I am delighted the issue has been raised. If one is in Belmullet in west Mayo and one undergoes a small public service vehicle test, one must have a knowledge of the intricate geography of places between 80 miles and 120 miles away. That is bonkers. If one is located in one of the smaller counties, such as Counties Louth or Carlow, one will be required to have an intricate knowledge of areas less than 50 miles away, depending on where one lives. In recent weeks I got results from the National Transport Authority which bear out that the knowledge test is prohibiting people from gaining entry to the service. In many cases, that is why there is not a public transport system. I could name four or five people who have got jobs driving hackney cabs in west Limerick but they cannot pass the test because it is primarily about Limerick city. Deputy Dooley is closer to the areas that are the focus of the tests than the people concerned, who have more in common with Deputy Griffin than with Limerick city.

It seems that lines on maps are the be-all and end-all. I have heard some of the questions that are asked in the knowledge tests. Having traversed all of County Limerick in the previous general election, I have a fairly good knowledge of the county, but I would not be able to say which street, running between Clare Street and Henry Street in Limerick, is a one-way street or on what street in a particular village is the post office. One could be talking about a place 80 miles away. God help the person in west Cork who has to sit the test because he or she will have to know about Kildorrery, Mitchelstown, Youghal and Cloyne. They are probably more likely to visit Dublin than such places. The area knowledge test is designed to protect someone or something but it is not protecting the consumer who is deprived of having a rural transport infrastructure because people are failing the test.

In 2010 in Wexford, 13% of people who sat the test passed. What makes it worse is that if one looks at the number who failed and those who got results of between 60% and 80%, the bulk of the questions in the good results are probably based on their local geographical area where they are likely to serve. With the greatest respect, a person driving a hackney cab in Shanagolden, Loughill or Foynes does not need to know about Herbertstown, Bruff, Hospital or Garryspillane because they are never going to pick up a fare there and they are highly unlikely to be ever asked to drive a person there. The knowledge test system is a barrier to gaining entry to those wishing to provide a service. It does not reflect what is needed. It is based on geographical boundaries and if one is unfortunate enough to come from a sparsely populated county in the west, all of which counties are probably bigger than those on the east coast, one is goosed before one starts.