Ms Deirdre Hanlon:

To answer Deputy MacSharry's question as to whether a function should be reassigned from another Department to our Department, our Department deals with public transport services on road and rail. We deal with that through a range of agencies. The services to the islands are probably more specialised and have a very particular community sense to them. Therefore, it is the Department that leads around those areas that is responsible. The decision has been that its understanding and expertise around community issues and decisions is probably the more significant issue that determines how it has been decided to make that allocation.