Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)

Not only did the people die, the cattle died because no hay could be saved for two years continuously. There was no such thing as silage at that time. The cattle died; everything died. In 1880, again it rained continuously for two years. The funny aspect of it is that there was not one combustible engine in Ireland at the time. Why is it that we are blaming it all on global warming? These cycles happened over the generations. It seems now there are lobbyists and those who, as I stated, make an industry out of the subject of global warming. It is a considerable subject for the media which can sell thousands of hours of television and radio and print material about global warming. As I stated, in past years there were all these severe cycles of weather and there was no such thing as a combustible engine.

On diesel versus petrol engines, motorists were always encouraged to spend that extra bit to buy a car or van with a diesel engine because they would save in the long run. Unfortunately, that is not now the case and these motorists are left high and dry with the vehicles.

It is a shame and scandal to think that not one pothole will be filled with the extra money that will be raised by the Minister's increases. Not one mile of road will be surfaced with it. There will not be one dyke opened. There will not be one gullet put across a road to take water from one side to the other. As Deputy Pringle correctly pointed out earlier, the money will go to pay an insurmountable debt. I would ask the Minister during the course of this debate to acknowledge that people are angry about the high cost of motoring. It would be seen both as a proactive and welcome departure by the Government and also as supporting rural communities if, to encourage motorists to use their vehicles to go out to try to get work, it decided to be radical in its thinking and reduce the tax taken out of every €10 of petrol or diesel. This would be seen as a very positive move and would help in reducing the high cost of home heating oil.

At present, many people, in particular the elderly, are cold in their homes because they have central heating but they cannot afford to use it. There is a new practice, which never happened before, whereby people are going to petrol stations with a 5 gallon drum to buy home heating oil. Previously, if money was scarce, a person could telephone the oil company and ask for €100, €150 or €200 worth of home heating oil but people now cannot afford to do that. Instead, they must go to a petrol station with a 5 gallon drum or, in the case of an elderly person, send someone else to buy 20 or 25 litres of home heating oil, then try to measure that out and make it last for as long as possible. I am sad to say this, as I did not think I would live to see the day when people's money would be so limited and the cost would be so expensive that they just could not afford it. In the interest of helping people at a particularly tough time, the Government should be radical. I know the answer will be that the Government needs to take every euro it can out of every €10 but it is wrong. In the long run, it would get more if it took less. The Minister is looking sceptically at me but I believe in what I am saying.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this subject. As with many of the debates taking place in the House, given the massive majority the Government has, it literally has a free hand with whatever it wants to impose. The Opposition can do what it likes but, at the end of the day, it relies on the Government to do the right thing because it is not in a position to force the Government's hand. All it can do is make suggestions in an honest and fair way, which is what it always tries to do.

If I find something good in what the Government is doing, I will be the first to compliment it. If I see something wrong, and that it is letting the people down, I will always highlight that. However, I hope, because of the massive majority the Government has, it will try to be fair at the end of the day. In increasing the cost of motoring, the Government is not being fair to the people who elected it. They did not send the Government here to further drive up the cost of motoring, particularly at this time.

In recent days, I had to listen to a Government-supporting Deputy say he had to support the Government because he was the only Deputy in his constituency who supports it. The answer I gave him was that this was the problem - there are too many of them.

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