Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation. The bottom line here is that there is a public responsibility to give equal transport access to everybody in this country. I wonder if we have a lack of communication and co-ordination at the moment between the National Transport Authority, Bus Éireann, the private operators and rural community transport. We need to maximise the benefits on a cost-benefit basis for provision of services to everybody. There may be a need for a national review and an evaluation of where we are going. It appears to be a bit haphazard at the moment. We have to fair to everybody. An excellent service is being provided by the community transport companies, which they have developed over a number of years. They have targeted remote areas that would normally be deprived of services. Is there a plan for co-ordinating with and feeding into the higher levels of transport, like the expressways, from the smaller communities on to Córas Iompair Éireann?

What marketing and public relations work is being done for all the services? We cannot forget our tourism product. The tourism industry in peripheral areas such as the west and south west, where we probably have the most tourists outside Dublin, should be given a quality service. Tourism is expected to be up 10% in 2014 and may go up again in 2015. We need to move forward in a well-devised fashion to ensure there is good connectivity and communication with our peripheral areas. We have a lot to work on. The witnesses may need to be sitting around a table more often and planning their strategy properly because, as I said, there is an obligation to give everyone an equal service.

There are a number of local issues, for example, a bus going from Tralee to Ballydavid, west of Dingle, one of the greatest visitor areas in the country. It is scheduled to go into Ballydavid village but is not doing so. I ask that this be rectified immediately as it is depriving the local consumers as well as visitors coming into the area. There are rumours that the Killarney to Rathmore service may be abandoned. That is a very important route in the area which goes on into Millstreet and Macroom and also provides connectivity with Mallow and the city of Cork. I ask for Bus Éireann's full commitment to services in these peripheral tourist areas, and any other parts of the country.