Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I commend Deputy Mitchell, the Labour Party and the Green Party for putting down this important motion. On this Government's watch, the rail freight sector has declined while the volume of goods transported by trucks on our roads has increased by 70% in the past ten years. Has the Government decided to be imaginative and divert investment into the rail freight sector? It certainly has not. Instead, it has built the port tunnel in an attempt to move the problem out of Dublin city — out of sight, out of mind. In the meantime the rest of Ireland remains plagued by trucks due to our poor road infrastructure and the lack of decent motorways.

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