Ms Bairbre Nic Aongusa:

When the decision was made, it was in the context of the Department of Transport's subsidised services, which are managed by the National Transport Authority. The scheme does not extend to any other subsidised transport services managed by that Department, including the PSO air services to Donegal and Kerry. Because the offshore islands transport services are managed by our Department, which is a different Department, the Government's decision in relation to that did not extend to us.

The Minister is not opposed to looking at this. We hear the concerns about it, but we need to be careful that we do not create difficulties in relation to procurement. It is worth pointing out that islanders already benefit from subsidised fares on all island transport services. I ask my colleague, Mr. Mac Donncha, to provide further details on that. As far as I know, on most subsidised ferry services, the islander rate is in the region of 50% less than the standard rate.