Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Minister agrees that we need to address the issue of there not being a public transport service for those people living in remote areas who do not have a family member or even a neighbour next to or near them. They need assistance. That must be driven politically. It will not be driven by any statutory agency or Government Department. I appeal to the Minister to make use of his political power and to give instructions to the relevant agencies to come up with a realistic hackney option rather than the ludicrous one that was tried already. That pilot scheme was a total failure and needs to be totally overhauled. I appeal to the Minister to put his political capacity behind such a proposal to ensure it is implemented before this Government leaves office next year.

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