Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for Transport if he is satisfied with the provision of public transport for rural areas under the transport plan. [35796/05]

Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Transport if funding will be provided in 2006 under the rural transport initiative to provide a transport service to cover the north east Galway region to enable elderly persons with no transportation of their own be provided with transport to local towns and services as is available in south east Galway in order that all citizens of Galway are treated equally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36091/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 169 together.

The Government's ten-year transport investment framework, Transport 21, which was launched recently, provides for significant funding for an expansion of public transport infrastructure and services. At the same time I will provide significant additional funding under the rural transport initiative, RTI, for public transport in rural areas.

Since 2002, my Department has been operating the RTI, a pilot rural transport programme. Under the initiative, funding is provided for 34 rural community organisations throughout the country to address the public transport needs of their areas through the provision of local transport services.

Area Development Management Limited, ADM, administers the RTI on behalf of my Department. ADM and the individual RTI projects are solely responsible for all the operational aspects of the initiative, including the areas to be served by the RTI projects, and neither I nor my Department have any role in these matters.

I have provided €4.5 million in funding for the RTI in 2005, which is a 50% increase on the 2004 allocation and I will provide €5 million for the initiative in 2006. By the end of 2005 total funding for the initiative will have been over €13 million which compares with the original proposed allocation of €4.4 million in the National Development Plan 2000-06.

Earlier this year I announced the extension of the pilot phase of the initiative to the end of 2006. In this I was taking account of the principal recommendation of the appraisal of the RTI, carried out in 2004. I also announced that from 2007 onwards I intend to put the scheme on a permanent footing. Pending the conclusion of the pilot phase of the RTI, it is not proposed to expand the number of RTI projects.

I have already announced that in parallel with the implementation of Transport 21, I will double the cash funding available to the scheme by 2007. Thereafter, I will steadily increase the funding available for rural transport services, ultimately to a cash level about four times what it is this year.

Proposals for the roll-out of a permanent structure for the delivery of rural transport services in the post 2006 period are currently under consideration in my Department. When finalised, they will be the subject of a public consultation process. In developing these proposals, I will pay particular attention to the transport needs of rural areas that are not currently served by public transport.