Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that but it was as a result of pressure for support of this Bill at the time. This was alluded to by the Minister and Deputy Heydon. The two are happening together. There was no talk of this measure before the Bill. That is a fact. We are codding ourselves if we are not being honest about that.

I am glad to hear the Minister say that the metrics will reflect a social service to improve the quality of people's lives. That is welcome. I will come back at a later stage and remind the Minister that he said as much. Many of the social services within Bus Éireann and the public service obligation routes have changed in recent times. Commercial realities applied in certain instances. I welcome the fact that this is not a commercial reality and not based on commercial realism but on providing a social service within our community. We should encourage people to use it in the coming six months to ensure there is a far greater roll-out of this scheme after the six-month period.