Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is a very fair and, more important, highly intelligent man. I am sure he was embarrassed reading that out. The red herring of the PSO Donegal and Kerry services can be put aside because there are buses going to Donegal and buses and trains going to Kerry, right to the airport in the case of Kerry. It does not quite work that way when you are trying to get to an island.

The Minister of State stated that the subsidised transport services managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development to the offshore islands do not qualify for the scheme. We know that. That is why I am standing here. However, the Minister of State did not give the reason, other than that the Minister will not do it. The Minister of State then said if the €10 standard fare for islanders to €8, it would bring the scheme into disrepute. When I was Minister, I did exactly that. It used to be much higher and variable. I set the rate and, rather than being in disrepute on the island, I think I was held in high esteem. The Minister of State then made the point that if the small number of islanders, relative to the number of tourists and other people who go to the island, got this small reduction, it would undermine the commercial non-contracted services. The Minister of State must have cringed reading that out because if you have a guaranteed €10 fare and the normal tourist fare is €20, why would you take the transport for €20 when it is available in the contracted service at the predetermined rate?

Furthermore, I ask the Minister of State to name all the islands that have private services running in parallel with the services contracted by the Department. I have a fair knowledge of the islands. There may be one or two with such private services but they are few and far between. If he does not have the answers tonight, I ask him to go back to the Department and the Minister and request that they address this issue in a written reply.

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