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The new carbon tax should have a portion ring-fenced
to fund a replacement for Bus Éireann in rural areas, an Oireachtas
Committee has said.
The rural affairs’ committee has produced a
report which said control of the service was confused and
needed to be consolidated with one decision maker - the Department
of Transport. The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht
Affairs should be removed from the equation, it added.
Author of the report, Michael Ring TD, said
the carbon tax represented a new fund that rural communities
had to stake a claim on. He said the committee could not calculate
an overall cost of providing a comprehensive service to isolated
areas because it would depend on uptake. The sercvice cost
€11 million in 2008.
"This is one chance that we have now. If we
don’t put a claim to the carbon tax now we are going to be
in difficulty. Here is an opportunity. Carbon tax is going
to affect rural people more and rural people want to know
what services they will get for it."
Mr Ring said Bus Éireann had failed rural Ireland
and did not provide services to villages off main roads. He
said voluntary and community-based organisations would be
better equipped to adapt services to meet local needs. He
denied he was looking for a bailout for bad planning and said
rural life had to be protected.
The committee recommended vouchers for taxi
services if bus services could not be organised. It also said
regular services between villages and towns should be put
in place.
Committee chairman Tom Kitt said it was more
expensive to travel in rural areas, but transport planners
could not escape the fact that a large proportion of the population
lived in the countryside. He said groups such as Irish Rural
Link were the preferred vehicle - and not Bus Éireann.
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