Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

Tairgim leasú a 1:

To delete all words after ''Seanad Éireann'' and substitute the following:

''congratulates this and previous Governments for their foresight in introducing and expanding the Rural Transport Initiative that has seen:

it develop from a pilot scheme carrying 151,000 passengers in 2003 to 1.2 million passenger journeys in 2008;

an increase in the numbers of services from 40,000 in 2003 to 140,000 in 2008,

further development in 2009;

increased funding from €3 million in 2003 to €11 million in 2009;

and acknowledges:

the Government's commitment to the Rural Transport Programme as articulated in Towards 2016, the National Development Plan 2007-2013 and the Department of Transport's sectoral plan under the Disability Act 2005;

Seanad Éireann also:

notes the high levels of current and capital expenditure that has been provided by the Government in its term of office to provide public transport infrastructure and to support public transport services;

endorses the provisions in the Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009 which establishes a modern regime for the licensing of commercial public bus transport services and facilitates a national statutory framework for the procurement of public transport services by way of public transport services contracts;

endorses also the provisions of the Planning and Development Bill requiring transport plans as an integral component of local authorities' development plans;

acknowledges the relevance for public rural transport of the Government's policy on sustainable travel, and

recognises the mutual dependencies between the Government's rural development and local community support policies and effective and efficient public rural transport.''

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an Teach. Déarfainn gur beag duine go bhfuil an t-eolas céanna aici agus atá ag an Aire maidir le cúrsaí na tuaithe, na buanna a bhaineann leis an dtuath agus na riachtanais a bhaineann leis chomh maith. Táim lán chinnte go bhfuil a croí san áit cheart agus go mbeidh sin soiléir amach anseo. Munar féidir linn é sin a léiriú inniu, táim cinnte go léireofar níos déanaí é. Senators Buttimer and O'Reilly have made a passionate and informed plea on behalf of rural Ireland. I have noticed that we have strong, articulate people undertaking advocacy on behalf of rural Ireland. Whether on the Order of Business or on more substantive debates on legislation, rural Ireland is never short of an advocate on both sides of this House. Long may that continue. Apart from business, as human beings we live in a competitive world and we are looking at a diminished treasure chest. We must ensure that each section of society is represented when we develop and distribute the fruits of the work of the nation. We should take off our hats to the organisations in rural Ireland. I am thinking of farming organisations, particularly Macra na Feirme and Macra na Tuaithe. These organisations help young people to enunciate the requirements of rural Ireland and to point to its needs and potential. The Irish Countrywomens Association, GAA and Comhaltas have been to the fore in this respect. We should salute them for this because much of the development that took place and the legislation passed came as a result of the research and exhortations of these organisations. As a result, we have a confident rural Ireland. Over one third of the population, a considerable amount, lives in rural Ireland. We should quote this statistic often.