Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Today, hundreds of bus and coach owners are in Dublin with their buses, at enormous expense to themselves, because they have been shut down and closed off. I completely support the remarks made by Deputies on the previous topic but people will not have buses or coaches to travel to matches if we do not support this very valuable industry. These buses carry all the tourists here and carry people to concerts. Many bus operators in each county carry people shopping to different towns and they also provide a huge service to the schools. There is also a cohort of them that get no payment at all if they do not have a contract with Bus Éireann. We need specific supports and grant aid for these very important, logistical people movers around our country. When the country opens up again, we need them to bring in our tourists and keep industries, towns and entertainment going. They are a very important cohort of people. They are here today and are hardly able to put diesel in their buses. The drivers are probably voluntary because they are all out of work and they do not foresee the wheels turning any time soon. They have huge expenses with insurance and everything else and they need supports.

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