Lorraine Higgins (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank him for taking the Adjournment matter which is my request that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport intervene with the National Transport Authority to save bus route 418, which is being discontinued and which operates between Athenry and Galway via Derrydonnell and Oranmore, County Galway. The Minister of State might not be aware that the early morning bus route is an essential service for people who live in and around the Athenry area, particularly for connectivity purposes. My argument for it has been further bolstered given the number of people who have contacted my office and me in recent times following the threat to abolish the route.

I have been in contact with a number of people, including those working in Oranmore and Galway city and the parents of children attending schools in the city and Salthill, who are dependent on the service. These are places a train service cannot reach. On foot of the calls and e-mails, I got in contact with the National Transport Authority and outlined the position. The response I received is that there is insufficient demand for the service. With all due respect to the authority, this is disingenuous given that Athenry is a sizeable commuter town of Galway city. When I was in school in Salthill, the bus was packed every morning at a time when Athenry had a population of 1,000 people. Now, it has 5,000 people and I would hate to think the decision is made in an attempt to force people onto the train in Athenry arising from the significant losses Irish Rail made in the past year. In all circumstances, I ask that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport intervene in the situation so that this essential and invaluable service is retained for the people of Athenry and its hinterland. While everyone acknowledges we are in recessionary times and that some cutbacks must be made, the decision to deprive a town of a bus route that services 5,000 people and departs at 7.30 a.m. to bring people to work and to school, with its important strategic value in terms of further development, is perplexing. I ask that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport sees the value of the route to the Athenry community and acts accordingly.