The Government has begun a public consultation on how to spend its €9 million budget for its Rural Transport Programme this year.
According to Minister of State for Transport, Pat the Cope Gallagher, the scheme will help tackle the increasing problem of social exclusion by meeting public transport needs in rural Ireland.
A total of €90 million will be spent on the Rural Transport Programme (RTP) over the course of the National Development Plan 2007-2013. The scheme replaces the Rural Transport Initiative (RTI), which was established as a pilot project under the 2000-2006 National Development Plan.
Mr Gallagher said the RTP has now been established on a permanent basis. The national social inclusion body, Pobal, has been given the role of liaising with rural communities to determine what their transport needs are.
The managers and promoters of rural transport schemes are being encouraged to contact Pobal to secure funding to enhance current routes and establish new ones.
Around 30,000 people availed of the RTI last year, making a total of 750,000 trips. Thirteen of the 34 projects funded under the scheme provided a daily service.
"The RTI has been based to date on the sound principle that local people know best what transport services they need and the new programme is intended to maintain this principle in the mainstreaming process," Mr Gallagher said today.