James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

While I welcome the introduction of the Bill, I do so with serious reservations. As a rural Deputy I am shocked that the Bill contains no reference to rural transport. It is disgraceful to consider that we have waited more than 70 years for an update of the Road Transport Act 1932 and the subsequent Transport Act 1958 on the licensing of bus services, yet the Minister in his wisdom has, in effect, ignored rural Ireland. That does not surprise me given that the Government is currently jaded, tired, weak and paralysed.

The Minister does not seem to be performing. He thinks that Ireland does not extend beyond the Pale, which is regrettable. That is the case despite the latest Central Statistics Office survey on income and living conditions for 2007, which highlights the fact that just over half of all households in rural Ireland have difficulty in accessing public transport compared to 11% in urban areas. The survey also found that the most significant factor in determining access to services was geographic location. Householders living in rural areas were consistently more likely to report difficulty in accessing basic services than those in urban areas. Given that the legislation deals with the regulation of transportation issues nationally rather than just those of the capital it is extremely puzzling that the Minister should, in effect, ignore the transport needs of rural areas.

That is especially worrying at a time when the rural transport scheme has come under threat from the McCarthy report. I recognise that the Government has bowed to pressure from the force of protest on the recommendations of the report, but rural transport is still an extremely grey area that urgently needs a resolution. That is something I would like to see forthcoming from the Minister this evening. In response to the protests, the revised programme for Government contains a brief reference to the rural transport scheme. While I do not dispute the contention that the scheme has been extended to every county in the country my concern is about funding. It is all very well for the Government to state that it has committed to the retention of the scheme, but the reference to it in the revised programme for Government is to explore the provision of a full-scale transport system in rural areas using the network of expertise of Bus Éireann, the physical infrastructure and personnel resources of the school transport system and the financial resources currently being spent on transport by the Health Service Executive, HSE, and the Department of Education and Science.

The HSE bus service to hospitals in the midlands was discontinued approximately two years ago and the hackney service has been withdrawn from some patients in my constituency in recent weeks. To me that sounds suspiciously like the robbing Peter to pay Paul approach normally adopted by the Green Party and Fianna Fáil Government. Neither the HSE nor the Department of Education and Science is exactly flush with money to provide for their current transport needs. Rural transport provision could utilise the fleet of school buses while they are lying idle between morning and afternoon school runs. However, separate funding must be committed to the rural transport initiative and that is not the case to date. Last July and August the Government faced massive public outcry against the proposals of an bord snip to save a mere €11 million at a very large cost to our rural population. I wish to see nothing other than a firm commitment to substantial funding for the rural transport scheme in the budget. That will reassure people in rural areas that the Government has their well-being at heart.

Debate adjourned.

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