Meeting to discuss sustaining public transport services to take place

A meeting to discuss how public transport connections and services between communities across the country can be sustained and enhanced will take place today.

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications will meet with the CEO of the National Transport Authority Gerry Murphy regarding the recently published plan for restructuring rural transport provision.

The report proposes a rationalisation of the current programme, reducing the current number of 35 groups to 18 Transport Co-Ordination Units.

The Chairman of the committee, John O'Mahony said that an effective system of rural transport is vital to people in rural areas.

"It is a particularly important service, there was a 40,000 services in 2003," he said.

"In 2012 that had grown to 217,000 but it needs to be made more efficient and that is what this plan is about."