Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
442. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Transport if there is a role for the Local Link service to ensure Ukrainian refugees have adequate transport; the support that local link will receive to deliver in this manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21144/22]
View answerIn line with the whole of Government approach, my Department and the National Transport Authority (NTA) have been working on practical and meaningful responses to the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis.
From the beginning of the crisis, we have provided newly arriving Ukrainians with free travel from their port of entry to their end destination on any PSO or Local Link service. Indeed, many commercial bus services similarly offered this assistance in getting people to a safe location.
I was also delighted to announce the provision of emergency public transport services to those refugees housed in rural or isolated locations to ensure better access to our local communities. This will be achieved through an acceleration of network improvements identified through the Connecting Ireland public consultation, including additional stops, route modifications, and more services with the aim to increase connectivity. Areas such as the Ring of Kerry will avail of such improvements, in practice catering for both existing demands as well as responding to the increased pressures on services where the local population has grown in response to the humanitarian crisis.
Additional bus services will also be deployed to cater for those housed away from the existing public transport network. For instance, the NTA is looking at options to provide transport from the Earl of Desmond - where many refugees have been accommodated - to Tralee town. Such measures will provide better access to a range of amenities, employment opportunities and to onward public transport connections to larger centres.
A Community Transport Fund is also being established to support occasional social travel requests. This will be operated by the TFI Local Link offices and will enable our Ukrainian guests to join in the many activities that are available in our towns, in particular, activities focused on youth, integration, culture, and education.
Collectively, these endeavours aim to provide a means of greater integration between local and Ukrainian communities.
