Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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What I am trying to get at is that the Government must cut back and it seems sensible to cut the subsidy by €21 million but that puts pressure on CIE to get its house in order and by God it needs to put its house in order, it is a shambles. The NTA rescues CIE immediately and takes the pressure off it by giving it a fares rise. As far as I remember the NTA press release gives the reasons for the fares rise as follows: the cut in subsidy; the economic downturn; the rise in fuel costs; and emigration. It was never said that CIE is a shambles and is running itself into the ground. The NTA gave the external factors but CIE was never blamed. Does Mr. Murphy not think that CIE could have been told to cut the costs and rationalise operations?