Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The point is that there are 160,000 people living in Tipperary and there are 30 accessible taxis. A comparable county, also of rural make-up, is Donegal. It has a population of 158,000 and 33 such taxis. There is a sizeable difference in people's experience depending on where they live. This is not a comparison between an urban and a rural environment. It is comparing like with like. If the Department looks at the list of what is available and tries to create a decent spread across the country. There may be a small number of counties that need to be cajoled into considering the need for this. It is all very well to have a 10% target, but if that 10% all goes to urban areas and there is not a decent spread, the people who do not have other modes of transport will probably be worse off. That is the point I am trying to make. I understand that a grand scheme is something that people must decide to take up, but it strikes me that there is an imbalance which is worth considering.