Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 December 2004
142 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Transport the amount which has been allocated to the rural transport initiative for each of the past three years; and the Government’s proposals to increase the funding and to expand the scheme. [33921/04]
View answerWhile a total of €4.4 million was provided for the rural transport initiative, RTI, in the national development plan, my Department has expanded significantly on this and has provided €3 million for the initiative in 2002, 2003 and again in 2004.
The RTI allocation for 2005 is €3.45 million which represents an increase of 15% over the 2004 total, or more than 12% when account is taken of inflation effects. This increase will result in an overall funding commitment of more than €12 million for the RTI to end 2005.
While I am happy to allocate substantially increased funding to the rural transport initiative, I am keen to ensure that we get value for money for these financial resources. Accordingly my officials will work with Area Development Management Limited, ADM, who administer the scheme, on ways in which the impact of this funding might be maximised in the light of the recent independent evaluation of the programme.
