Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I ask him to help clear up some uncertainty among the transport groups that are looking at this document and wondering what exactly is going on. They are funded up to June 2013, which is only a few months away, and the passengers are also uncertain, having heard discussion around this issue. It is incumbent on the Minister of State to clarify the position so there is some certainty for these people going forward.

I believe deeper consultation with the Rural Transport Network would be beneficial to everybody because its members are the practitioners of a rural transport service. It is not a public transport service; it is a rural transport service which is community-based, and that is entirely different from a transport service where there is a fixed timetable and people try to find their way to a stop to get themselves to the local town. I appeal to the Minister of State to clear up that uncertainty.

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