Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

My Department is funding the provision of public transport in rural areas on a pilot basis through the operation of the rural transport initiative, RTI. The RTI has been operating since 2002 and, under it, funding is made available to 34 community organisations throughout the country to provide local transport services. It is not proposed to expand the number of projects pending the conclusion of the pilot phase of the RTI at the end of 2006. I have already announced that from that date I intend to put the scheme on a permanent footing. The RTI makes a daily difference to the lives of thousands of people and it is for this reason I have put it on a permanent financial footing.

Area Development Management Limited administers the RTI on behalf of my Department. ADM and the individual RTI groups are solely responsible for all the operational aspects of the initiative, including the areas to be served by transport, and neither my Department not I have any role in these matters.

This year I have allocated €4.5 million for the RTI, which is a 50% increase on the allocation for 2004. This should allow individual RTI groups to make some modest expansion of services in some areas. The provision in 2006 will be €5 million. This will bring the total national development plan, NDP, provision to more than €18 million, compared with the original NDP commitment of €4.4 million.

In the period up to the end of 2006 my Department will engage in a wide-ranging consultation process to seek proposals for a permanent structure for the RTI. In developing these proposals I will pay further attention to the transport needs of rural communities such as those to which the Deputy referred.

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