Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome back the Minister, Mr. Ross. There are a number of topical issues I wish to bring to the Minister's attention today.

In my constituency, we have Clare Bus, a not-for-profit company operating a fantastic rural transport service since 2002. For the past 18 years, they have provided transport links to the most rural parts of Clare. We are not a leafy suburb with DARTs and Luas trams going down through it. We rely very much on rural transport. It is essential in our county.

At the time of its founding, Clare Bus's overarching principle was that it would be fully inclusive. Insofar as that is concerned, it has operated a fully-accessible fleet of buses. As I am sure the Minister will understand, they have carried some of the most vulnerable people throughout County Clare.

The National Transport Authority has for a number of months been waging a most unfair war against Clare Bus. They have left Clare Bus out of pocket to the tune of €96,000. There is agreement that €22,000 of that will be paid but there is an outright impasse and dispute relating to €74,000 of that. It is utterly shambolic that a vital rural transport service provider would be left short-changed by a Government body. There are many losers here - the hundreds of people who depend on Clare Bus day in, day out and, of course, the Clare Bus workers. Right now, all 25 Clare Bus workers are in receipt of Covid-19 social welfare payments. They are the only group of workers I can think of in the State at present who have been made redundant, not by the Covid crisis but by Government body hard-balling. It would be cheaper for the State to stop these Covid payments and immediately let these men and women get back to their jobs. One worker recently told me he feels like he and his colleagues have been subject to a constructive dismissal on the part of the National Transport Authority. To pay redundancy to its workers right now, Clare Bus would need to sell some of its bus fleet. The National Transport Authority will tell one that it offered fresh contracts, but how could any company engage in contract talks when so much money is outstanding to it?

Shannon Airport is the driving force in Clare and the mid-west region. At this time of crisis, it has been deemed essential and has accepted many cargo flights of personal protection equipment, PPE. When the crisis is over, there will be an acute need for the Department to provide the airport with a capital expenditure fund. For too long, the airport has had to self-finance all major projects, including a recent €15 million upgrade of the runway. All such outlays seriously eat into the airport's financial resources meaning that it has very little funding left over for marketing the airport, attracting new routes and retaining existing routes. There is urgent action needed in that regard. The funding needs to be ring-fenced for the airport to safeguard it in the future. When the State seeks to reboot its economy, the Minister will be reliant on Shannon Airport in the west and mid-west.

Finally, on tourism in general, tourism is worth over €400 million per annum in a good year to the Clare economy. That sector needs an adrenaline shot at present and groups, such as Quilty cottages, have asked that the Minister might move the reopening date from Monday, 20 July, to Saturday, 18 July in order that they could get a full week's booking as opposed to ad hocdays.

See this speech in context