Mr. Kenneth Spratt:

I guess we have to start somewhere. I mentioned earlier that we are focusing on increasing our PSO level of funding for rural transport services. We have Local Link at the moment and a Connecting Ireland pilot is under way in Leitrim. This pilot has proven to be very successful to the point where lessons will be learned and tweaks made and it will continue to be rolled out across the country. We would be hopeful that in respect of the example given by the Senator, a Connecting Ireland service would be available in that part of the country before too long that would meet the needs of the people who would want to use it.

I accept the point made by several members about the cost of public transport, particularly rail. Again, it is about trying to strike that balance where we get good value for money on behalf of the taxpayer. Every euro that is reduced in terms of fare income requires an additional euro to be paid by the taxpayer so it is about trying to strike that balance. We have a journey to go on that.