Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Does the NTA have a vision for those rural areas where services have been cut in the past few years? There are many parts of rural Ireland that need services, including small towns. While there is a rural service and I acknowledge that it is a help, there is a need in the different aspects of life in rural Ireland. We have the rural bus link, which is good. It has worked well in Sligo and started well in County Leitrim. However, the NTA needs to look at it. At one time it was the bingo bus and the bus taking people to collect their pensions. That is realistically what it was. In fairness, there has been some new thinking in counties Sligo and Leitrim and it has started in other counties. However, we must ensure the bus we look at is the bingo bus, the bus to take people to collect their pensions and the bus to bring employed youngsters to town who might not have cars as the price of insurance is getting out of hand. We need to ensure it is the bus that goes around an area to bring people to the pub in the evening to keep that side viable. An aspect of rural life has been decimated by different laws and regulations. While one cannot obviously drink and drive, we have not put in place an alternative solution. We need to take an holistic view to ensure we provide the services required to help different businesses with welcome extra funding. Rural isolation has also become a big problem. Dublin is a fine city and everyone loves it, but there is another part of the country and we would like people to turn their eyes to it to ensure it has services too.