Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The latest national census figures show an increase in the population in urban areas. However, 40% of Irish citizens still live in rural areas and, unfortunately, the Government's record shows that these people have been largely forgotten. General practitioner, GP, vacancies are not being filled, 200 bank branches have closed, post offices are under threat of closure while some have been closed already, small schools continue to be under threat, there has been an increase in costs for children attending local schools as they have to pay more for bus services, and broadband provision could be described as primitive, at best. As a consequence of that rural decline, approximately 1,300 pubs have also closed. Rural dwellers feel extremely isolated as a result of the decisions of the Government.

Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures show that people living in rural areas have 25% less disposable income than people living in urban areas. They also show that whatever level of economic recovery has taken place, or is under way, is concentrated on the east coast and the commuter belt. People in rural areas still believe that they live in an economically depressed zone and that they are getting no support from the Government. For me and many others, the Government's attitude was summed up last week when Bus Éireann announced a cut to almost 100 daily services on routes affecting places such as Bunclody, Castlecomer, Ballyporeen, Roscommon and Castlerea. That will have a significant impact on the lives of people who live in those areas and are served by those services. College students, elderly citizens attending outpatient clinics in local hospitals and hard-pressed, low paid workers in the service sector who depend on those services to get to their jobs early in the morning and to get home late at night will be acutely affected by the decision to axe those services.

Does the Tánaiste appreciate the importance of a well functioning public transport system that serves the entire country, both urban and rural? Was she informed by Bus Éireann in advance of its announcement last Monday that it intended to axe these services? When will she and her party start to defend the public transport system in the State? Will the Tánaiste engage with the National Transport Authority, NTA, and Bus Éireann to ensure that these services are maintained for the people who need them so much, long beyond the June deadline that has been set?

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