Mr. Hugh Creegan:

We recognised some years ago that we were doing a great deal of work in urban areas. We had BusConnects developed for the cities but all the rural areas, towns and villages, needed to be addressed. As a result, we developed the Connecting Ireland programme of which Local Link is part. That programme aims to radically improve public transport provision throughout the country in order that most people will have an option to use public transport to complete at least some of the journeys that they cannot complete at present.

It is in my note that we rolled out about 45 improvements last year, and there are something like 45 or 47 new and enhanced services to come this year. That is an important programme for us. It requires funding, so that is the constraint we have. For us, it is vital. It is recognised by the Department of Transport and the Government that is the case. We are growing it. We would grow it further if there was further funding available.