Deputy Imelda Munster has had to leave. Deputy O'Keeffe is next.

In May 2019 the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Brendan Griffin, and the chairman of the Fine Gael party, Deputy Martin Heydon, announced an increase in funding to the National Transport Authority from €12.2 million in 2016 to €21 million, which was for the provision and continuation of LocalLink services. This was to ensure the continuation of existing services at least. The Minister said that "[p]eople in rural Ireland need to be able to get from A to B; to work, to socialise and to ensure that their communities thrive and prosper in every way." The Minister has failed in his promise. Mallow College of Further Education is very strong and I recently saw colleagues graduate from the college but its success, under the auspices of Mr. John Healy and Mr. Paul Murphy, has led to greater demand from applicants from north Cork and even Limerick. In the past year and a half, LocalLink provided a transport service from Mitchelstown and Fermoy to Mallow but this service has now been cancelled. I ask the Taoiseach to reinstate the service.

I can make inquiries about the specific route. We are committed to spreading the benefits of the LocalLink service to as many communities as possible. I piloted a community car initiative in Kerry, which has been hugely successful because we have carried almost 3,000 passengers since last February. It is volunteer led and is working very well.

We are keen to address the deficit of transport services in some rural communities. This should have been done over the past decades but it has not been done. Nevertheless, we are determined to do it now and that is why we have been pumping more money into LocalLink. We do not decide the route plans of the various LocalLink companies but I would be happy to investigate the Deputy's case and get back to him.