Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My point is that if I contract out tomorrow and existing taxi or hackney drivers can apply, nine out of ten of their vehicles are not wheelchair-accessible. It would be up to me, as the contracting authority, to ensure I have enough wheelchair-accessible vehicles in the area in the short term but not exclude the other big pool of drivers who already exist. That is all I am saying. This would provide the exact same balance as in city and urban areas. Under my plan, when the rest of the country gets to 100% so will rural areas. It would be the exact same except in this case the contracting authority would have to make sure every area had a more than adequate wheelchair-accessible service.

On the Chairman's point, it is fair to state that in most cases what Rural Link does is focused at a certain cohort in the community. It is not focused on people who want to go out for dinner or to the pub at night.