Speech by Martin Cullen, T.D. Minister for Transport at the ADM Conference on the Rural Transport Initiative, Ormonde Hotel, Kilkenny

Date: 29 November 2005

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen

At the outset I would like to thank Area Development Management for organising this National Conference on the Rural Transport Initiative (RTI) and for inviting me to be with you today in the historic city of Kilkenny.

National Development Plan

This is an exciting and dynamic time in the development of public transport in Ireland and in particular for the development of public transport in rural areas. The advent of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2000-2006 has resulted in major investment in public transport since the year 2000. In the implementation of the NDP huge advances have been made in transport provision in Ireland and widespread improvements have been made in the delivery of public transport services.

The NDP has also spearheaded significant initiatives in public transport services and I must say one of the most outstanding of these in terms of results and achievement is the Rural Transport Initiative.

Rural Transport

While you are all here today to share your experiences and reflect on the success of the Rural Transport Initiative, it is timely that we remind ourselves that it has only been in operation for four years. And so it is relatively recently that Irish society has begun to address the rural transport problem.

While there had always been a general awareness of the effects that the absence of transport services had on those living in rural areas I think that it is only with the advent of the RTI that we can clearly see what a positive effect a scheme such as this can have on the lives of people in rural Ireland.

And not alone is it a local public transport service, but in all cases it is a community owned and operated local transport service.

I am totally in favour of the community dimension of the RTI as, among other things, it ensures that the particular needs of the people being catered for will be accommodated insofar as this is possible. This is particularly important with regard to the needs of older people and people with mobility and sensory impairments.

It was always acknowledged that making local public transport services available in rural areas would go a long way to countering the negative effects of rural isolation and social exclusion. The reason for this is that the need for transport is a derived need; in other words we don't need it for its own sake, we need it to do something else.

The reality is that without transport we cannot access services that are not close to hand. And so the provision of transport is an essential prerequisite for full participation in everyday activities. It is easy for those of us who live in built up urban areas to take for granted our easy access to, and participation in, every day services, educational and leisure opportunities, work and recreation.

However, it is not the same in rural Ireland where you might have to travel many miles to avail of these services or to participate in these activities. And so the availability of transport of one kind or another is an everyday necessity for those living in rural areas. We can easily see then how social isolation and exclusion can arise for the rural dweller who does not have access to a car or to other forms of transport.

The difficulty has always been that the provision of rural transport services does not come without a cost. Because of low rural population densities and very dispersed settlement patterns it is impossible to provide commercially viable public transport services in many rural areas. Quite clearly if there was money to be made in providing rural transport services then they would have been provided a long time ago. There then would have been no need to hold this conference and no need to bring in the Rural Transport Initiative. I know that for many years Bus Éireann has been providing a number of rural transport services on a non-commercial basis and I want to acknowledge here today the efforts made by the company in addressing the rural transport problem.

Rural Transport Initiative

I know that in the presentations later this morning there will be close analysis of how the RTI originated, how it has operated and what lessons we can learn from it. And so I don't want to go into too much detail on it here. However, I do have some things I want to say about it.

The RTI was originally designed as a two-year pilot scheme that was due to conclude at the end of 2003. However, it was extended to the end of 2004 to facilitate the carrying out of a full appraisal of the scheme. I was very impressed with the findings of that appraisal and in line with the principal recommendation, I decided to extend the pilot phase of the RTI for a further two years to the end of 2006. In that way the pilot phase of the RTI will dovetail with the NDP time period that also concludes in 2006.

In extending the pilot phase of the RTI, I wanted to provide an adequate timeframe to allow the full lessons of the RTI models to emerge. While some RTI projects commenced transport operations in 2002, for a variety of reasons many of the thirty-four projects being funded under the initiative were not in a position to commence transport operations until early to mid 2003.

I am very happy to say that since the commencement of operational services in 2002, the RTI has proved itself to be a very successful, dynamic and innovative set of projects that collectively makes a huge difference to the daily lives of thousands of people; people who otherwise would not have access to public transport services and thereby access to other services and opportunities.

Some 300,000 passenger trips were recorded on RTI services in 2003 and this rose by over 66% to over 500,000 passenger trips in 2004. The figures for the first half of 2005 are already up 25% on the corresponding period last year. These are spectacular figures and our thanks and appreciation are due to all concerned; to all the passengers and staff of the 34 projects around the country, some of whom are here today and to the staff at ADM who manage and administer the RTI on behalf of my Department.

Today I had the pleasure of making a special presentation to Ellen McCole who, earlier this year became the one millionth passenger on RTI services. Eileen is a regular passenger on the RTI services operated by Meath Accessible Transport. Reaching the million mark is a very significant milestone in the roll-out of the RTI and given the progress that has been made already this year I know that it won't be long before we'll be celebrating the two millionth passenger trip.

Taking account of the very positive outcome of the RTI appraisal and having seen for myself the success of the RTI throughout the country where it is operating, I have already announced my intention to put the initiative on a permanent financial footing after 2006.

I am very happy to say that my Department is currently preparing proposals for the development of rural transport services in the post 2006 period based on the RTI experience. The input of the RTI project groups to this process will be critical and I look forward to receiving that input in due course.

RTI Funding

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 be providing significant additional funding under the RTI for public transport services in rural areas.

This year €4.5 million has been provided by way of funding for the RTI. That is a 50% increase on the 2004 allocation and I will be providing some €5 million for the initiative in 2006. By the end of 2005 total funding for the initiative will reach the €13 million, almost three times more than the original proposed allocation of €4.4 million in the National Development Plan 2000 - 2006.

In parallel with the implementation of Transport 21, I will double the cash funding available to the scheme by 2007. Thereafter, this Government will steadily increase the funding available for rural transport services; ultimately to a cash level about four times what has been provided for this year.

Conclusion

When one looks at the success of the RTI right across the country it is very clear that a huge effort has gone into bringing the initiative to fruition and I want to congratulate everyone connected with it. I especially want to acknowledge the voluntary effort put in by so many people at the group project level.

The fact that over 500 people are involved in a voluntary capacity in the management and operation of the RTI projects nationally needs to be publicly acknowledged. In an age where we're told that the voluntary effort across all sectors of society is falling off, this level of voluntary involvement in delivering community rural transport services is to be applauded and I congratulate all concerned. Without the exemplary effort put in by RTI project board members, the staff of the individual projects and others involved in this community transport effort, it is very unlikely that we would be here today celebrating the success of the RTI.

I would also like to take this opportunity to again thank the RTI staff of Area Development Management Ltd. for their dedication, diligence and professionalism in administering the RTI on behalf of my Department and for the wholehearted support that they continue to provide to each of the RTI project groups.

Thank you for your attention and I hope that the conference will be informative, fruitful and enjoyable.