Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)

The point I am trying to make is that we do not have the luxury of rail. We have Local Link bus services, which are improving vastly and I fully respect that. The fact that we do not have rail surely puts us at some priority compared to other counties that have all these conveniences. We are in a situation where you are caught, as I said, behind a car. I know myself that the frustration is unbelievable and unbearable. You are half an hour on a summer day behind a car between Bandon and Clonakilty or Clonakilty and Skibbereen. That is outrageous. It is not on to have a situation where you are travelling about 30 km/h. It is not on in the modern world we live in.

At the end of the day, I am bringing this issue up here year in, year out. My brother, Councillor John Collins, attended one of the meetings recently in relation to Bandon and the southern relief road. He asked when there will be a shovel on the ground. That is all we want to hear because reports are the greatest thing to kick a can around for a few years and let on something is being done because a report is being carried out. He could not get an answer. That is where we are at. We are going nowhere. I am not here pointing fingers because Ms Fitzpatrick is saying it is a funding issue. The Government, therefore, is letting the people of Cork South-West down in a terrible way, not just last year or the year before but continuously for years and years.

I ask TII to prioritise roads and places like this where there are no light rail and people do not have the comfort of jumping on a train. I live approximately two hours from a train station. I want to use the train and come to Dublin. When I come in again during the second round later, I might talk about light rail. The train is not there and that is it, end of story. I just have no choice. The train came within two miles of me in 1850. We are supposed to be one step ahead but we are taking two steps back. The bottom line is that these roads need to be prioritised. The bypasses need to be prioritised and passing bays in particular above anything else. They are not hugely expensive. A little bit of cop-on is needed for someone to put together something today to say that this piece of road will be looked at and a passing bay implemented. There is no major cost. All that is needed is to sit down and get it done.