Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

-----to let me know exactly how important this was.

Nobody in the House needs to lecture a Fianna Fáil Minister on how important the rural transport network is because a Fianna Fáil Government initiated the scheme in 2002. It has increased the money made available to it since then. The initial figure was €3 million and this was increased incrementally to €4.5 million, €5.1 million and €9 million. I increased it further to €11 million. While some groups may talk about net amounts I am sure they do not expect we would ask them to run the service without giving them some money to administer it. If this is what they are suggesting, I will be delighted. I made an extra €1 million available this year and insisted that it be used for services only, not for administration. The gross amount available, taking into account the amounts made available from the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the fare box, as the Deputy mentioned, is close to €16 million.

The service is and has been important. The decisions that must be made in the budget will be made in the budget. The Government has given a clear signal as to the importance of the initiative. This was before we proposed to reduce the blood alcohol limit from 80 mg per 100 ml to 50 mg per 100 ml. I freely acknowledge the Deputy's support in this regard.

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