Easilink cuts 4,000 vital rural journeys amid funding crisis

AN independent charity that provides transport for elderly people living in rural areas has been forced to withdraw thousands of vital journeys in West Tyrone due to ongoing funding concerns.

Easilink Transport, which is based in Omagh and Strabane, says it has had to reduce the number of trips it provides by 4,000 over the past two years. The company says this is because of a sharp reduction in the money that it receives from Stormont.

Chief executive Claire Russell told the Tyrone Herald that they, and other similar companies across the North, are to hold an urgent meeting with the Infrastructure Minister, John O’Dowd, next month.

“Last year, we received a 3.5 per-cent cut and the fact that this has not been reinstated means that our funding has effectively been reduced by seven per-cent at a time of increased fuel, electricity and other costs,” she said.

“The Minister met with us in April and appeared to be very supportive of the work that we are going to provide rural transport and the strong need for the service. We were quite hopeful that this would translate into additional funding, but unfortunately that hasn’t happened.

“We are not happy with the allocation which we received and it is frustrating that Stormont has not increased the money provided to us. Our organisation has had to find an additional £29,000 annually to ensure that our staff are paid the minimum wage and costs generally have risen as well.

“Department officials told us that community transport was not been included in the June funding monitoring round, and that annoyed us.”

REDUCED

Easilink is arguing that, in West Tyrone, the rural inequalities in terms of access to services merit more financial support in comparison to other areas in the North.

In the last two years, Easilink’s funding has reduced by £20,000. Passenger trips delivered by Easilink have also been reduced by 4,000 in order for them to balance the books.

“This has a major impact on ordinary people. The services that we provide are a real lifeline for people living in rural areas,” Claire Russell added.

“But it feels like at the moment we don’t seem to be valued, when we see Translink awarded £13 million to ‘bolster their reserves’. There is £2.2 million allocated to community transport across all of Northern Ireland, which is a tiny amount in comparison to the £13 million.”