THE LABOUR Party has called for the retention of some €8 million in funding for the rural transport programme, which is “critical” for tens of thousands of people living in the countryside.
Labour’s transport spokesman Tommy Broughan yesterday published a plan outlining how the service could be maintained and protected. The six-point plan, Giving Rural Ireland a Lift, proposes the maintenance of the programme and new initiatives to prioritise the service and to allow local public transport providers become financially independent.
“Rural public transport services have been underfunded and neglected for years and the transport needs of rural Ireland have too often been ignored,” said Mr Broughan.
He said providing transport for people who lived outside larger towns was important to prevent social exclusion and rural isolation. This was especially important for senior citizens, people with disabilities and low-income families.
He claimed there had been a “savage” series of cutbacks proposed for Bus Éireann fleets and services, plus plans to axe the rural transport programme.
Labour’s plan proposes to
- Maintain the Rural Transport Programme (RTP);
- Make rural transport planning a key priority of the Department of Transport and the new National Transport Authority;
- Protect the national Bus Éireann rural bus network;
- Prioritise the enhanced integration of rural transport services;
- Review successful EU rural transport models and establish a rural public transport services target;
- Consider initiatives to encourage local transport firms to be more financially independent.
“In 2008 the 36 RTP companies in every county across Ireland received just €8.3 million in funding. Transport Minister Noel Dempsey must now make sure that this relatively small funding allocation is maintained under Budget 2010,” he said.