Ms Anne Graham:

Let me clarify my remarks. When I said commercial operators can decide what they want, I meant they can decide what they want to apply for. They make applications and decisions on what they apply for but we make the decisions on whether they get a licence, the towns they can serve with their licences and the timetables they can operate. It is not that they have free rein to decide what kinds of services they produce. They have free rein to decide what services they apply but not necessarily in respect of the licence they get. Then they make decisions on whether to operate the licences.

I agree with the Deputy that each person is entitled to a public transport service. We are trying to provide as many public transport services as we can based on the funding we have.

On the Kerry services, we have carried out an assessment of the services provided by Bus Éireann and the contracted services it provides, in addition to Kerry Local Link services, to try to integrate them and have better connectivity in and around Kerry. We have been successful in that. That is not to say there could not be further improvement. We are always trying to improve the services being delivered, particularly in rural areas.