Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this matter. I condemn the decision by Bus Éireann to withdraw all public transport services serving Abbeyleix and Cullahill in south County Laois and Johnstown in north County Kilkenny. This is the first of a number of savage cuts by Bus Éireann which will result in the withdrawal of services along the main roads from Dublin to Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick and the North, respectively. I ask that this decision be reversed.

We have lost the railways and every month now we lose vital bus services through towns. As a result, the affected areas will not have access to any form of public transport. The chairman of the National Transport Authority and managing director of CIE informed Members at a recent meeting that nothing can be done because the services in question are run on commercial lines. I ask that the Government and Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, who is a party colleague of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, agree to the transfer of the public service obligation from rural transport links to cover what were, until this week, Expressway services along the M7. The state aid service needs to be expanded. The bus service in County Laois, which has been provided since the time of the Bianconi transport service more than 100 years ago, is about to cease. I ask the Government to ensure, at the earliest opportunity and through the National Transport Authority and Bus Éireann, that people in County Laois who need to take a bus to work or to attend vital health appointments under the centralised service for which transport is required have access to public transport.

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