Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 82: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the budget he has available in 2009 for the night-time rural transport pilot. [40845/08]

Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 98: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the position regarding the night-time rural transport scheme. [40840/08]

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 114: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he has plans to extend the night-time rural transport pilot on a national basis. [40843/08]

Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 116: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if the night-time rural transport pilot will be extended. [40842/08]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose taking Questions Nos. 82, 98, 114 and 116 together.

As the Deputy is aware, in many rural areas, there are no public transport services at night. While there are, in the more developed rural areas, either hackney or taxi services, these are at the discretion of the providers of these services and do not provide a guaranteed service to rural people.

It was against this background, therefore, that in May 2007 I introduced a new evening transport service, on a pilot basis, to allow rural people to fully participate in the various activities, community, sporting and social, that take place in their areas. Seven groups are currently delivering the pilot evening transport service.

A review of the pilot scheme is about to get under way and it is anticipated this will be completed in January 2009. In the interim, funding will be provided, pending the outcome of the review and my response to recommendations arising.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I welcome this scheme which was a good initiative. I would prefer if the Minister had the review sooner, because it is important the scheme continues and is rolled out on a national basis. I hope the Minister continues to provide funding for the scheme. He has said he will provide it between now and the time the review is completed.

What plans has the Minister to roll out the scheme nationally? He said that in some rural areas hackneys and taxis are available, but in others they are not. It is important for rural people to have some kind of service to bring them to sporting events, bingo or wherever they need to go. The Minister should not take any notice of begrudgers who give out about funding.

Last week I tabled a question to ascertain the funding available for Dublin Bus and the Luas and there is much State intervention to provide funding for Dublin. However, as soon as rural Ireland is mentioned, a row breaks out and people become upset and uptight. Will the Minister continue this initiative on a national basis throughout the country? What priorities does he have in this regard?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should join Members on this side of the House as he is aware of my views on these issues. I have replied many times to criticism of providing rural services to the effect that attempts to provide services in rural Ireland always appear to be dear, while the cost of equivalent services provided in more urbanised locations never seems to be an issue. However, the seven pilots are in operation and an evaluation will be conducted. In this regard, one should try to ascertain how such projects can be as economically self-sustaining as possible.

Some interesting statistics have emerged thus far. From May 2007 to December 2007, 1,475 services carried a total of 13,000 passengers, of whom 64% were holders of free travel passes. This year, up to May 2008, 812 services have carried 6,072 passengers, of whom 66% held free travel passes. I had hoped that many people who did not hold free travel passes but who wanted to go out at night would avail of the services. Perhaps such people sought the freedom to have a drink or two or whatever or in other words, to do what people do in cities. The higher the ratio of paying to non-paying customers, the more sustainable are the services. In the review, I have asked that possibilities to increase income should be considered to facilitate spreading the service wider without a great increase in cost.

There is no point in me standing up in the House today and pretending I have a huge pot of gold as I do not. I know the contents of my Estimate and no doubt the Deputy has also studied it. However, this is a good service and it is worth reviewing it. The review will be rapid and I seek practical answers to ascertain how the money can be stretched further, if not nationally. Are there ways in which to increase the schemes' income in order that they are more self-financing and the service may be stretched further than at present? Obviously my response is only qualitative as the really accurate response will emerge from the review. However, the feedback I hear on the ground appears to be favourable. I do not know whether the Deputy has heard otherwise.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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As the scheme now is a pilot project that appears to be working, the Minister should not over-regulate it. The pilot scheme is working and other areas seek it. However, the Minister should avoid doing what every Department does to working schemes, that is, they poison it through over-regulation. The Minister should avoid doing so.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset, the only action I took, with which I hope the Deputy will agree, was to state they were obliged to charge a minimum——

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Yes.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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——for people who did not have free travel passes. Those with free travel passes travel free. My thinking was the more I could encourage rural communities to charge a reasonable fare, the more likely that it would be possible to offer a wider range of services. My experience of rural Ireland was that ordinary people with jobs who wish to go out for the night would not complain about paying a reasonable fare, any more than would someone paying for a taxi in Dublin. Consequently, I believe a fare of €5 each way was set, which is not unreasonable. If one hired a taxi in this city, €5 would not get one very far. The only measure I have been pushing is that the schemes should try to be as commercial as possible and that the gaps I must fill should be as narrow as possible. The purpose is to extend the service more widely, rather than to save money. Aside from that, I agree with the Deputy's point. Creativity and flexibility are the names of the game. For a service that is designed to each local community's need, to give the best value for money and the best services to the community, the light touch is by far the best and I agree with the Deputy in this regard.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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When the Minister first proposed this initiative, I thought it was the maddest idea ever. I am delighted to find I was wrong. Are all the schemes in the west of Ireland or do some operate in Leinster? As for further development of the scheme and, as Deputy Ring has suggested, its roll-out, what mechanism can be used in this regard? Will the new Leader groups be able to do this? Agritourism, which now is an essential part of rural life as a means of developing alternatives for the farming community, probably would benefit from such a roll-out. What plans does the Minister have to roll it out? What groups will be able to put forward proposals in this regard?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The bids came from the existing rural transport groups around the country because we did not wish to duplicate bureaucracy. I insisted on a small proportion of the money going on administration and this was laid down. The operators could not spend much on administration. As for the groups involved, West Cork Rural Transport is in Munster, as is Avondhu Development Group in east County Cork. As Meath Accessible-Kilnaleck Community operates in counties Cavan and Meath, it is half in Leinster and half in Ulster. The County Sligo Leader Partnership operates in north Connacht, as does Tumna Shannon Development Company, County Roscommon. Síob Teoranta operates in County Donegal and Laois TRIP in western County Laois. Consequently, there are one and a half operators in Leinster, one and a half in Ulster, two in Connacht and two in Munster. Unfortunately for me, none was in County Galway. They simply did not win the bid.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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That makes a change.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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However, I agree with Deputy Wall's remarks on the future possibilities. The point is to keep it attached to some existing structures, either the Leader partnership companies or, more probably, the existing rural transport groups. Perhaps in time they should realign themselves because the overheads should be kept down. There are many ways to deliver this service. Some operators do so with buses on a fixed route. Another option I thought of was to have a hackney driver, who would be contracted to be on call between certain hours within a ten-mile radius and to bring anyone to and from a place within that radius. There are many variations on this and as I noted to Deputy Ring, we need flexibility. It certainly fills a gap and my argument from the outset has been to ask whether it is possible to imagine a city without transport after 8 p.m. and to ask what that would do to social life in cities. The big question is why should the countryside be different. We have proved there is a demand for this.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Does the Minister agree that to expand the rural transport projects, they must be flexible and responsive to demand? I refer in particular to the potential to attract young people at night and hopefully prevent fatal car crashes such as those seen in recent years.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Absolutely. One must consider an appropriate pricing mechanism. Young people spend quite a lot of money when they go out for a night. If charging them €15 for a safe way of getting to and from places means that one can provide more services, that is fair enough. Many parents would be more than willing to pay out such sums to ensure their children came and went from discos or wherever they were bound. Even before I set up this scheme, there were certain areas in which people provided what were commonly termed "disco buses". It was a great relief for the parents of those areas, because they knew the driver was a responsible adult, as opposed to people getting lifts home at night from people who might have been tempted to drive a little too fast. All Members are familiar with the related carnage.

All possibilities must be examined and I note there is a lot of interest in the House in this regard. I am open to the idea, when I receive the report, of attending the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to have a discussion on this subject in order that Members collectively can put their minds together, to maximise, within the financial envelopes available to me, the possible impact of the scheme.