T5. Ms Sheerin asked the Minister for Infrastructure to give a commitment that funding for community transport will not be cut in light of the 2024-25 Budget? (AQT 385/22-27)

My budget will be announced later. I have done everything in my power to protect community transport's funding at last year's levels, including the restoration of some funding that it lost last year. Community transport, as the Member will know from her rural constituency, provides a vital service to many in the rural community. I also hope to meet Minister Muir, Minister Nesbitt and the Minister for Communities to discuss how community transport engages with and delivers services to their Departments and how they, in turn, can help to support community transport. We need a long-term sustainable plan for community transport, both for those who use the service and those who manage and work in it.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a fhreagra.

[Translation: I thank the Minister for his answer.]

As you outlined, Minister, community transport is vital, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalised in rural communities. Will you provide detail on your plans for increasing the accessibility and sustainability of community transport?

I am not trying to put my Executive colleagues under the spotlight. What I am trying to do is bring collective thinking to community transport. Community transport provides services to shops, but it also provides services to the GP, the hospital, the dentist and the community, thereby breaking down isolation. There is common cause among several other Ministers and me in that regard. When I look at the costs that some of my Executive colleagues face in providing transport, particularly for patients in the health service, I see that community transport could play a vital role in providing a cost-effective alternative.