Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 552: To ask the Minister for Transport the funding provided to an organisation (details supplied) in County Cork to provide a particular rural bus service; the terms and conditions of the allocation; the nature of the new service to be provided and its relationship with existing public bus services provided on the route; and the further new services being provided by the same organisation arising from funding allocations from his Department. [48025/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Thirty-seven community transport groups around the country, including a number in County Cork, are being funded under the Rural Transport Programme (RTP) to address social exclusion in their rural areas arising from unmet public transport needs. Pobal administers the RTP on behalf of my Department and makes specific funding allocations to the individual RTP groups from funding provided by my Department. Neither I nor my Department have any role in relation to the day to day management of the Programme including allocating funds to particular groups or for services.

One of the key strengths of the Programme is that local communities know best where the transport needs are in their rural areas and how best to address those needs. The RTP groups are, therefore, responsible for deciding on the specific services to be provided and the methods of provision. However, it is a clear principle of the Programme that RTP funded services should complement and not compete with the existing public transport services provided either by CIE Companies or by private transport operators.