Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

The Government slashed capital gains tax for speculators, saving them billions, and slashed corporation tax for big business but has saddled working people who must use the M50 with this new tax. All over the country it is noticeable that it is the commuter belts that are being hit, in other words, working people travelling to and from work.

In his previous role the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, brazenly wasted €50 million on scrapped voting machines and we have major wastage on many infrastructural projects. The Dublin Port tunnel, for example, will be delivered late and may run €200 million over budget. We suggested to Deputy Finian McGrath who acts on this issue on behalf of his constituents that the next time he inspects the port tunnel he will probably have to wear a scuba diving rig-out. Despite this, the Government brazenly insists it cannot remove this anachronism.

I remind the Taoiseach that even Ireland's conservative Constitution states that private ownership should be curtailed by the common good. If there was ever an example of such curtailment being required in the common good, it is the need to remove forthwith the barriers over the river to bring considerable relief to tens of thousands of hard-pressed people on a daily basis. This measure would not, by any means, be the answer to all the problems as these require massive public transport infrastructural investment.

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