Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)

I welcome everyone back. It is great to have them here. Rural transport is top of my agenda as I live in County Limerick, so I will paint a picture. I think this relates first to the NTA. Living in the west of County Limerick we have Bus Éireann, which is bus 321. There is the Expressway bus 13, and the Dublin bus, which I think is bus 300. If you are a student or are working in Limerick city and live in Abbeyfeale, you are looking at getting the 7.25 a.m. or 7.30 a.m. bus. It comes from Killarney, so by the time it hits Abbeyfeale, if it is not already full and you are left standing at the side of the road until 9 a.m. for the next one, you might get some people on, but it will definitely be full by the time it hits Newcastle West. All of these students and workers are standing there with no option. There is no bus coming for at least another hour. I think with the 7.30 bus the next one is at 9 o'clock. Again, in the evening it is the same thing. Leaving Limerick city and coming out, it is every two hours. The Dublin bus is every hour, but it will not stop at certain stops. It will stop in Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West. It will not go into Rathkeale because it has to come off the N21. It also will not stop in Croagh, which is on the N21. It does not pull in off the road anywhere. It will stop in Adare. If you live anywhere between Adare and Newcastle West, the bus is no good to you because there is no stop and you will not be able to get on it anywhere.

What is the funding per capita in the greater Dublin region compared with rural regions? Is there a massive disparity? I see it listening to people going on about metro, Luas, DART and buses, and you have people living in Limerick county who cannot even get to college. Is there a big difference between the funding model for Dublin and that for rural Ireland?