Fine Gael Senator Nicky McFadden has called on Government TDs in Longford and Westmeath to stand up and oppose the proposals to axe rural bus services.
“I fail to understand how a successful, value for money, service that has the backing from the Minister could be axed.”
Senator McFadden has spent two weeks travelling on the bus meeting people that use it to go to “the doctor, get their prescription, and attend hospital appointments. There are also those that use the service to get their hair done, go swimming, meet their friends. I realise that if this service were to stop, we would have elderly people not able to live independently and with dignity. I believe we would have far more hospital admissions,” she said.
“I met with one lady this morning on the bus who visits her husband in the nursing home every Friday morning. Another lady told me apart from mass on a Sunday her weekly Friday trip to town is the only other opportunity she has to meet people and that she does not see anybody from one end of the week to the other.
“It is not only about the necessary journeys, it’s about elderly people being independent. This service is value for money. It cost the Exchequer €406,000 and last year in Westmeath alone, there were 45,000 passenger journeys. The service is positive, courteous, and all of this is down to the wonderful bus drivers and the manager Noel McCormack, who care about each person,” she added.
“It would be absolute discrimination, if the people of rural Ireland were to be deprived of public transport, while elderly people in the cities can hop on a bus of their choosing. I believe that instead of axing a vital service, monies can be found to save and extend this service by the Government cutting waste and Ministerial junkets.”
