His comments were made during an Assembly debate on a report entitled ‘The better use of public and community sector funds for the delivery of bus transport in Northern Ireland’.
Stewart Dickson MLA said: “This report confirms the need for a more integrated transport network to better serve all people in Northern Ireland.
“It highlights a disjoint in transport planning that has resulted in duplication and overlapping of expenditure by several Departments. This disjoint means the Executive has an enormous bill for transport without any one particular Department taking consideration for a more efficient system.
“The Regional Development Minister must work with the Ministers for Health and Education to introduce better planning to ensure there is a more efficient transport system that will provide an effective service to meet the needs of people across Northern Ireland.
“If we had the capacity for schools buses to bring rural dwellers into the larger towns with school children or for community transport to support access to hospital appointments, then we would have a public transport system that is integrated and working for Northern Ireland.”
ENDS