Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

This is one of the most successful schemes ever introduced here. I have taken the time to assess it, having viewed its operation, met those who use it and travelled on the buses. Shortly after I came into office, many Deputies persuaded me of the value of the scheme. I was strongly persuaded it should be made permanent and provided with increased funding, given its huge impact, as the Deputy rightly noted, on the lives of many who are isolated in rural Ireland and unable to access services, meet friends, travel into towns and feel part of everyday living. The service has clearly transformed lives, as all its users I met have told me.

In response to what colleagues and those who use the service said, I increased the budget by 50% this year. Nothing like this was done in any other area. I have further indicated what the figure will be next year. Despite an original commitment of €4.4 million for the total period, we will have spent €18 million. It would be wrong to state there is not a huge a commitment to this initiative.

All the groups involved have responded positively to my announcement because they now have certainty on what will happen this year, certainty in their budgeting for next year and certainty that the scheme will become permanent. In the meantime, we are talking to all the different groups involved to ascertain the best structure for a fully rolled-out permanent scheme throughout the country. I would like every part of rural Ireland to be able to avail of this service, which is the object of the exercise.

Some 35 schemes are in operation at present. They are well funded and delivered approximately 65,000 RTI transport services last year, totalling more than 500,000 passenger trips. The impact is very significant and we will do more. There are two successful schemes in County Galway, one in Bealach in Connemara and the other in south-east Galway. We would like to have these schemes extended not just to Deputy McHugh's area but to other parts of the country, and we are well on track to achieve this. All the organisations involved have thanked me for what I have done and for allowing them the timeframe in which to maximise the work of the schemes.

Some of the schemes work extremely well in that almost the entire budget goes into the service. In some schemes the proportion of the budget that goes into the administration is high relative to the amount that goes into the service. This concerns me and I do not think it is necessary. Some people have tried to set up large organisations to run this while others have shown me how this can be run in a cost efficient manner in co-operation with the local authorities. More services can be obtained because the more money that is put into services, rather than administration, the more one benefits. I want to look at why this has happened in some areas so we can maximise the money to the benefit of the customer.

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