Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome a recent announcement made of a new bus route in west Clare down along the Shannon Estuary which will go through Labasheeda, Kildysart, Ballynacally and other beautiful places that people rarely even hear about. It is a whole new opening for that part of the county.

There was much consultation about rural transport and Local Link up to last March with local authorities, local community groups and individuals. To that end, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, listened and took action. As a result, we have Local Link services all over the Twenty-six Counties, including rural Dublin, that offer two services. The first is door-to-door which is a responsive service for people who have disabilities or cannot drive. They can ring to get the bus to come their house. The second is a regular daily service.

This will monumentally change people's lives in rural areas who have been stuck in their homes with no public transport or relying on neighbours or their parents to give them lifts all the time. As somebody who lives in the countryside, having to drive my son around for years while forcing him to go out cycling for short distances, for long distances this is phenomenal.

The costs of the service are affordable with an adult fare at €3 and a student fare at €2. This will enable people who have disabilities, older people who live alone, or people who want to be independent. Often it is good for teenagers to be independent of their parents instead of relying on them. This is good for rural Ireland mentally, physically, socially and environmentally. It is really important that we have a Minister who values the importance of rural transport. It might not have the footfall we have in urban areas but he recognises the importance of it at the same time.

It was great to see this morning's news on the White Paper on direct provision. I congratulate those I know who have been working with asylum seekers for many years. They were themselves asylum seekers who, after they got asylum, turned back to work with NGOs and the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, MASI. We had a great group in Miltown Malbay where we had a direct provision centre. I really look forward to this White Paper on direct provision being the beginning of the end of the system, as was promised in the programme for Government.