Urgent need to safeguard public transport service
THERE was a big turn out at a public meeting to discuss the possible threat to transport services in the county.
The meeting which was organised by Sinn Fein was attended by MEP Liadh Ni Riada, local Sinn Fein councillors and bus driver Michael McComiskey of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU).
Speaking after the meeting Ms Ní Riada said it was important people showed the government just how crucial rural services are.
‘ The threat of cuts to services continues to loom large over rural Ireland. The mood from the meeting was one of worry and concern. Neither Bus Éireann nor the Government seem to recognise that these services are not numbers on a page that can be wiped out to balance the books, they are a lifeline for local people.
‘ They are how the elderly see family and get to their doctor, how students get to school, how people get to work and with the government doing nothing to stem the ever increasing costs of car insurance and rent in population centres they are increasingly people’s only mode of transport.’
Cllr Johnny Mythen said that Mr McComiskey, a bus driver with Bus Eireann, told the crowd about the situation within Bus Eireann. ‘ He basically said that rural Ireland is very much under threat. This will be especially true when the motorway is opened because companies will be able to cherry pick the most profitable routes.
‘ These routes are a social necessity for people. I know of one woman who is partially blind and depends on the public bus service to travel everywhere. For villages like the likes of Olyegate, Inch and other places off the beaten track they are facing massive uncertainty because it is possible that these services will be axed.
‘A public transport service can’t be just about profit, it is also there to provide a service for public. The Government is subsiding some private companies to a greater extent than Bus Eireann.
‘Another issue is that in some private companies drivers are being paid the minimum wage and as a result receive the Family Income Supplement payment so the Government is essentially subsiding them through the Department of Social Protection.
‘Bus Eireann doesn’t have a fair playing field and comparing public and private transport services is not comparing like with like.
‘ There has been criticism of Shane Ross and we know that he can’t get involved in industrial disputes but he can meet with the Department of Social Protection and the National Transport Authority and discuss the contracts given out.
‘I can’t understand why people aren’t jumping up and down about this. Already Route 2 which runs from Enniscorthy to Waterford and is used by many people to go to Waterford Hospital has been changed so now there is a two hour wait to changeover in Wexford.
‘ This essentially means that it is taking people four hours to go to Waterford - you would be in Spain quicker. It’s mental stuff.
‘ The loss of a public bus service would be an economic nightmare and would isolate rural Ireland. We have to have a reliable public service. Every country in the world has one.’