Dr. Maria Chiara Leva:

I thank the Deputy. For this it is back to basics. Ms Cahill can comment on the rationale for the figures in the Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes report. The Deputy said it. There are two speeds. The availability of transport in the Dublin area in the urban and some of the suburban areas is there. When we move to a more rural context and even different town contexts, the realities are staggeringly different. Even independent mobility becomes something feasible in the context where you have the community for it and becomes a totally different reality in a rural area where your house might be six miles away from the school. Most of them have buses and vans but that is the reality we are facing. Do we cater for all the needs of the country? The CSO survey asks why we travel. When we say "we", who is this "we"? How many different communities are we incorporating in this "we"? Is it "we" in the country, "we" in Dublin, "we" in Dún Laoghaire? It is a different set of needs. It is a different "we".