Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

The problem is we have a road infrastructure but no trucks are moving on it. The decline in goods transported by 100,000 tonnes is a considerable amount of haulage. A decline of 40% in one 12 month period is enormous, as the CSO statistics reveal. It is not comparing like with like to say that exports increased. That is largely due to foreign direct investment. We are talking about the lifeblood of the economy where goods are being brought for consumption throughout the country.

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