Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of different issues relating to transport and Covid to draw to the Minister's attention. The first of these is coach tourism. As part of the July stimulus, private bus operators were provided with a package of €10 million. The Minster for Public Expenditure and Reform had a meeting with myself and representatives of the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland, CTTC. Coach tourism is a vibrant and highly successful industry in Ireland. As a result of the lockdown and the impact the pandemic has had on international visitors coming into Ireland, this industry has come to a complete and utter halt. With travel restrictions still in place, there is unfortunately no sign of this industry finding its feet any time soon. It is essential that this industry be protected so that the tourism industry can recover to pre-Covid levels after the pandemic passes. If the industry is not supported, viable businesses will close and we will be left without a transport system for tourists when this sector eventually returns to normal. The fairest way the €10 million can be divided is on a pro ratabasis. The stimulus should be divided on a fair principle that those most affected must receive the most support. I understand a consultant has been engaged by the Department to determine how this money should be divided within the industry. I ask the Minister to ensure common sense prevails. We must get these businesses the money they need as a matter of urgency and it needs to be divided fairly. The CTTC has prepared a pre-budget submission. I urge the Minister to listen to their points and give them serious consideration. Their main point is that they require €42.5 million as part of a direct Government subsidy to help with the dramatic stoppage of almost all of their tourism operations. I urge the Minister to consider the issues the CTTC is drawing his attention to. It has also suggested that the €10 million should be divided based on last year's tourism-related turnover and that is the common sense way to approach it.

I refer to school transport. We are still yet to receive a response to the complaints raised by parents all around the country about the lack of capacity on school buses. My county of Tipperary is badly affected by this issue. There are school routes where more than 20 students have been refused concessionary tickets due to lack of capacity. For example, upwards of 24 students have been refused spaces on the Hollyford-Upperchurch route. I have also made representations on behalf of families in Moneygall who have children travelling to secondary school in Nenagh. Their concessionary tickets have also been refused and this is putting parents under extreme pressure to organise alternative transport for the past few weeks. The Cloneen to Ballingarry route is also facing similar difficulties. There are not enough spaces on the bus routes and a number of students are being refused. There is a simple solution to this: we need additional buses on the roads. Parents are under significant pressure to get their children to school in the morning when they are trying to get to work. Some of these families have had access to school transport on this route for five or six years and such a dramatic change in conditions needs to be addressed.

Finally, taxi drivers provide a vital service to certain parts of rural County Tipperary where there is no public transport. Many people rely on services such as the individual local taxi driver to get in and out of the local town or village for shopping and personal reasons. I call for consideration to be made for taxi drivers. Their businesses have taken an enormous hit as a result of the pandemic and the restrictions they are expected to operate under. I have been contacted by a number of taxi drivers who are requesting that their licences be renewed free of charge and that they be given access to interest-free loans to enable them to meet the costs of operating their services.

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