Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The action plan was launched with great fanfare, which conjured up the image of an interventionist Government. How does the Minister of State square this promised interventionist approach by the Government to revive rural life in the coming years with the simultaneous threat being posed to the future of Bus Éireann in a matter of a few short weeks? Transport was mentioned three times at the publicity launch of the plan while it is mentioned 39 times in the Minister's action plan itself. The responsibility of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and of the National Transport Authority are cited in the context of delivering improvements in rural transport connectivity. What faith can we have in these promises in the context of what has taken place in Bus Éireann? The Government is standing over the threat to slash the wages and conditions of 2,500 members and even the threat to the very future of the company itself.

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