Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. As someone who represents an urban constituency, I became jealous and emotional listening to rural Deputies speak about the great townlands of counties Clare, Limerick and Kerry. They made me think of returning to the country.

The rural transport programme is a very good scheme both in principle and in practice. As the report indicates, it has benefited many people, although not everyone. Those of us who maintain contact with rural county councillors will be aware that it is not a perfect system. All systems that are not perfect should be subject to review where they involve taxpayers' money. That is a good and positive thing. The scheme is useful but it could be further developed to make it more efficient in dealing with the difficulties of isolation that affect people in certain counties. It makes a good effort at dealing with these difficulties but it does not address them in their totality. This is why I argue there is nothing wrong in carrying out a review. That includes the monetary aspects. We are living in a country that has been made bankrupt and that relies on the financial generosity of our neighbours, and all schemes are subject to review.

Reference was made to an bord snip nua and the McCarthy report. I am glad the programme was not abolished, and the Minister should be credited for retaining it. Anyone who is interested in rural transport should examine what happened recently in Greece and six months ago in Spain. We have nothing to complain about. Those countries did not waste much time agonising over their systems or citizens in rural areas.

I support the rural hackney scheme. I have family members in Scotland, where the rural hackney scheme is one of the greatest innovations that ever occurred for those who live in isolated areas. The scheme also operates in parts of Wales. It has proven to be a solution to the provision of a transport system to isolated areas on an efficient basis. One of the reasons for its success is that we are living in the age of technology. Clearly there will be teething problems, but we should hold counsel until we see whether it works as successfully here as it did in other jurisdictions. I hope it will be a success.