Mattie McGrath presses for transport supports during Bike Week
Mattie McGrath spoke on transport concerns during National Bike Week, praising bike initiatives and local Garda outreach while urging practical supports for coach, taxi and limousine operators. He called for VRT breaks, meetings with the NTA and a holistic review of school transport arrangements.
National Bike Week praise
He thanked the minister for the Bike to Walk scheme and saluted Cair Gardaí and Sergeant Ray Maloney for a local initiative at the Cair Daycare Centre to teach children and families bike safety and interaction with other road users.
Support for coach and limousine operators
He highlighted Cueva Cavanagh of Cavanagh, the coach company based in Norlingford and Tipperary, and said coach operators need practical talks and supports. He also raised the position of limousines and specialist drivers who serve visiting dignitaries and visitors, describing them as exemplary and courteous.
Representation and specific support requests
He argued that the Taxis Association does not adequately represent limousine and specialist operators, who remain exempt but receive no assistance. He urged the minister to meet those operators and the NTA - the National Transport Authority - and to consider targeted measures such as VRT breaks and other supports.
Community transport and Ringelink
He praised Ringelink and manager Jackie Emilia for services in South Tipperary, Kilkenny and Cano, declaring he is a board member and that the service has brought thousands of journeys. He said these community transport providers have demonstrated capacity and need extra support.
School transport failures and safety risks
He raised urgent school transport problems, citing 50 students contacting his office over lack of transport and giving an example of an 11-year-old from Clawhean travelling to Mitchelstown who must share a 7.50am public bus. He warned of contact-tracing implications, long evening waits for return buses, significant parental travel burdens and asked the minister to take a holistic approach with other ministers.
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Goel mair goethe. Minister, I want to say, this is National Bike Week, I do thank you for the initiatives that you had already for the Bike to Walk scheme and I want to salute Cair Gardaí and Sergeant Ray Maloney, especially for an initiative he's having next Sunday in the Cair Daycare Centre, to encourage children and the families to understand the proper use of bikes and interaction with other vehicles and road users. Minister, you know Cueva Cavanagh of Cavanagh, the famed gross and coach company in Norlingford and indeed are based in Tipperary also. They need supports and they need practical talks and I encourage you to meet them but there is a sector there, Minister, that really needs and they've been let behind, the whole self-implied, the taxis and we saw thousands of them on the streets here but there's also the limousines and those specialists that we often travel and foreign dignities travel and they swing into the back here, pristine buses and they have been exemplary drivers and courteous to our visitors and introduced them to Ireland. They need to be helped also. They don't get any help, Minister, and the Taxis Association doesn't really represent them and they have exempt from that but it's worth nothing to them. It's no good to them to be exempt from that because they get nothing else. They want VRT breaks, they want different other supports and I ask you to meet them and with the NTA, NTA and the National Transport Authority, meet with some of us TDs and those groups because they are front line, they sell our country and they meet our people and look after them always. Minister, Ringelink was mentioned there, it's a wonderful set up and I want to do, Jackie Emilia, the manager, to have set up by South Tipperary and Kilkenny and Cano. They need extra, they have proven, they have the ability to do it. I'm a board member myself, I have to declare and they have brought thousands of people in journeys. Minister, school transport, it may not be your area but I have to bring this to your attention, Minister. I have 50 students at my office in relation to no school transport and I have an 11 year old school child going to secondary school from Clawhean under the frame V going to Mitchelstown every day. The bus, he gets a TIE public bus or bus in from Clawhean at 7.50am to be brought to Mitchelstown school. This means that they are sharing a bus with other passengers, where's all the implications there for contact tracing if anything happens. The real problem for the parents is that the transport option to get home in the evening, the students finish at 3.40pm and the CIE bus or bus in bus doesn't come for two hours to 5.40pm. It's a stupid situation. While you have all these coats and minibus operators parked up and you don't give them a bob, the buses are only going rusty and you have many of them self-implied. Some parents clock up 21k twice a day to bring them back and forward. You're the Green Minister and wanting to cut down on the emissions and everything else. I mean you have to go and look at this in a holistic way with Minister Foley and others in the Cabinet. So Ministers, I'd ask you to look at those things please. Thank you.
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