Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

It was a big announcement by a Minister about the transfer of puny resources from one fund to another.

The greatest scandal of all for the people of Cork is that despite the fact that they pay car tax at the same rate as everybody else, for the past seven years under the Government, Cork has been consistently last or second last of any county in terms of euro per kilometre spent. With two Ministers, one Minister of State and nine backbenchers, County Cork continues to fare the worst in the country.

Even from a roads point of view it is hard to see where all the car tax money is going, in addition to all the other taxes collected. It is impossible to justify the black hole into which these taxes are disappearing. It is painfully obvious that rural areas suffer the most and get the least value for taxes paid. The underlying injustice of this tax and many other stealth taxes introduced by the Government is that they must be paid irrespective of ability to pay. If the Government persists with this tax policy, it should look at ways of reducing the burden on pensioners by introducing a waiver scheme for rural dwellers living on social welfare. The Government will not change its colours, it is a Government for the rich and privileged and, as long as taxes are indirect and do not unduly affect its friends, it will continue to ignore the plight of those not in a position to pay these increases.

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