Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply, which is substantially along the lines I indicated arising from my direct contact with the NTA since last Friday.

I asked it to arrange a briefing session in Leinster House for tomorrow morning, which it agreed to do. I have notified the Deputies in all of the counties affected by the decision to be present. We hope it will be constructive and have a good outcome to enable us to get on with the rest of our lives. Nobody wants to see a gap in service and it would be dreadful if there was to be a gap for a day or a week or two. People will completely believe the plug has been pulled on small towns and villages. That is avoidable. Whatever has to be done to ensure a replacement service next week will, I hope, be done. As the Minister indicated, there have been contacts with local operators, including Bus Éireann and Local Link services. There is a good town link service running along part of the route and other private operators who could enter the fray might perhaps tender to operate a service on a long-term basis. What we need is a short-term measure to be in place from next Tuesday and to last probably for a couple of months. When the timetables are agreed to, the contract will have to be put out to tender. Tenders will have to be assessed and approval given to whichever organisation wins to commence its service and advertise accordingly. This process will inevitably take a number of months to complete. We need to get over the hump between now and then to ensure there will be continuity of service.

This isisue does not just concern people in County Laois, whether in Mountrath, Castletown or Borris-in-Ossory, who travel to and from Roscrea regularly; it also affects people in County Tipperary and north Offaly in some measure. The service may have to cover the full route from Nenagh to Roscrea on what was the old N7 to Portlaoise, now that the motorway, as the Minister pointed out, is attracting intercity bus services.

I also make a plea which I will repeat tomorrow for good weekend and Sunday services. Kavanagh's bus service were available seven days a week. Some of the Local Link services only offer a five or six-day service. We also need a Sunday service to facilitate those attending college.

My final point is that there will be long-term implications. From now on people will not be able to take a bus directly from Mountrath to Dublin. One will have to take the bus to Portlaoise to link with the ample number of hourly services from Portlaoise to Dublin.

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