Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no harm in that but we need to be looking at rural Ireland as well and its connectivity. I live in Galway city and can jump on a Citylink or a GoBus any day of the week, almost any hour, but we also need to look at services for rural areas. We cannot have a situation where this Government is once again forgetting about rural Ireland and public transport links for rural Ireland. It is extremely important and the Minister should really understand that. I understand what he is saying regarding issue of demand. Again, when relying on private commercial operators to deliver a service that really and truthfully the Government should be delivering, then of course it will be about an issue of demand instead of an issue of service and guaranteeing services for these areas. The Minister mentioned that the NTA would come back to me and that it would be a matter of a short number of months. A short number of months is not good enough. That is why I am bringing it directly to the Minister.

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