A total of €9 million will be spent next year on a new programme for rural transport, the Government has announced. It amounts to a doubling of the money that was spent when the Rural Transport Initiative was started five years ago.
The new funding is separate to a night rural transport scheme being considered by Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív and which is expected to be announced in coming weeks.
It has been called for in response to fears that random breath-testing and the smoking ban are having a serious effect on rural pubs.
Minister of State for Transport Pat "the Cope" Gallagher said he had separate discussions with Mr Ó Cuív over night services, but most of the bodies to gain from the new Rural Transport Programme announced yesterday operated during the day.
He added, however, that many of the buses and vans being used in the programme could be pressed into service at night.
The programme will see many schemes which were started on a pilot basis being made permanent.
Existing services carried 30,000 people last year on 750,000 journeys. Most of the 34 schemes now operating carry passengers during the day.
The money will be used to expand existing services while funding the start-up of schemes with the support of Pobal, a State agency promoting social inclusion.
The Minister described the extra funding as a "major milestone". He said the scheme had transformed the lives of thousands of people living in rural areas, particularly those with limited mobility.