The chief executive of a community transport organisation has warned funding cuts will substantially reduce the service it can provide over the next year.
Claire Russell from Easilink said a Department for Infrastructure (DfI) cut meant 4,000 fewer journeys would be available for people living in rural Omagh, Strabane and Derry.
Easilink is one of 11 rural community transport partnerships (RCTPs) covering the north, all of which have been subject to funding cuts.
The charity caters for people with difficulty accessing public or private transportation, including the elderly, disabled, poor, and rural community groups.
Ms Russell said Easilink’s struggle has been “going on for a significant number of years”.
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“We have lobbied really hard. We have met with department officials. We have met with the minister. While there does seem to be widespread support for the sector and for what we are doing as a whole right across Northern Ireland, unfortunately this has not turned into any additional funding.
“Easilink already sustained a funding cut of more than 30 percent in the year 2014/15. At that stage, where we were sitting was the skeleton of where we had been previously. Now, we are really worried that our service is no longer sustainable.
“We can’t scale back our services anymore – in terms of our dial-a-lift funding we have had to reduce provision to one return journey per week per customer.”
Easilink has more than 700 members and in 2023/24 was able to complete 25,000 passenger journeys in the dial-a-lift service.
This year, Ms Russell said, “we are going to have to reduce that by 4,000, to come in under budget”.
She added that the same travel restrictions were not applicable to people living in urban areas.
“People living in Derry city, for example, are not limited to how many times they can use the 212 to go to Belfast,” she said.
“There is definitely an element of inequality – people living in rural areas, particularly the west of Northern Ireland are being put at transport disadvantage.”
“We are really servicing the most in need within the community,” she said.
“Unfortunately, there is a cost to not funding us as well. Ultimately the public purse is going to have to pick up the cost of missed health appointments, for example, if Easilink is unable to take people to hospital or GP surgeries.”
A spokesperson from the Department for Infrastructure said minister John O’Dowd was very aware of the important contribution that community transport made, complementing the wider public transport network and helping to ensure more vulnerable people could access essential services and more actively participate in society.
“The minister met with some of the community transport providers, including Easilink, in April to discuss the challenges facing the sector and is due to meet again with representatives in September,” they said.
“The allocation of grant for 2024/25 is subject to the budget consultation and, as such, the amount is indicative at this stage.”
