Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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We are under a tight time constraint as we must vacate the room by 1.15 p.m. because another committee is coming in to use the room. I have a couple of questions, Deputy Collins indicated to me earlier and we also have Deputy Healy Rae. I will take everyone but we need to be short. Perhaps the witnesses will answer our questions in writing if possible.

I want to come back to the rural transport programme and the one I know best is in County Clare. Clarebus has 170 services a week and had 54,500 passenger trips last year alone. It has 11 low-floored easily accessible buses, which are wonderful. It operates out of Feakle in rural east Clare. It is a wonderful organisation and I pay tribute to it. Its fleet of 11 buses is under huge pressure from wear and tear over many years. It bought those buses using funding. Local Link is a national movement and it is funded throughout the country. The organisations involved need backup to keep improving their fleets. I ask the NTA to look at this.

With regard to routes, a timely turnaround is needed when a new route is proposed. A route was proposed by Clarebus from Kilkee to Kilrush and back to Ennis. It has been lodged for months and nothing has been heard back. It is needed. Will the NTA look at this? Coincidently, another route has been proposed in north Clare, from Ballyvaughan to Lisdoonvarna to Ennistymon, Corofin, Ruan and back to Ennis. Again it is a wonderful route, but I ask for timely turnaround on these issues.

I ask Deputy Collins to be mindful of the time-----