Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have just said to the Deputy that they were not eligible; they were there by virtue of being concessionary ticket holders. There can be different circumstances from year to year, and I have referenced this previously. For example more families move into an area or new housing developments are built. Concessionary ticket holders are there on the basis of additional availability on the bus. More than one third additional concessionary tickets have been provided this year but a cohort is not being catered for this year because there is no availability on the bus. We are looking at a mechanism for them. However, I repeat, this cohort is outside the eligibility criteria and outside the loop. As regards the work that has been done, the 124,000 families who are now not paying for the bus welcome that. They see it as the lifting of a significant burden, a payment of up to €650 for many them. We will seek to address the issue of the cohort of people who have not met the eligibility criteria in the context of the budget. However, they are outside the eligibility criteria.