Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take questions Nos. 48, 57 and 83 together.

Some 36 rural community transport groups are being funded under my Department's rural transport programme, which is operational in every county. These groups are working towards maximising coverage in their operational areas having regard to local public transport service needs and the availability of resources. I understand that on average some 13,600 transport services a month are now being provided under the programme. In addition, a number of pilot transport projects have been undertaken in the north east and north west to explore the potential for improved synergies between existing transport providers.

The outcome of these projects, together with those of the recently completed exercise to map all transport services in County Louth and a cross-Border pilot rural community transport project under the auspices of the British-Irish Council, will feed into the process for developing rural transport policy into the future. Some €11 million is being provided for the programme this year. Consideration of further funding for the programme will be considered by the Government in the context of the budget for 2011 and later years.

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