Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I have not even started yet.

There has been a two year delay in addressing this issue and we now have to deal with it at the last minute. I am not blaming or criticising the Minister but it should not have taken this amount of time to deal with legislation. The legal obligations of the State should not be dealt with at the eleventh hour; it is bad business and bad practice.

I am glad the Bill is non-contentious because it is important that we bring about clarity. It is also important that the Oireachtas is allowed time to consider and debate the matters addressed in the Bill. We should consider whether the proposal is a fair way of implementing legislation. This leads to questioning how we run the business of the House, and we are all obliged to do so. We often seem to put EU legislation rulings to one side and hope they go away; they do not do so and we must recognise that they cannot do so. I hope this Dáil will be more proactive in implementing EU legislation than the Oireachtas has been to date.

The issue of hauliers has become very political in recent years. I met a number of hauliers in Cork who are genuinely concerned about the plight of their industry and the way in which it is going. The price of fuel has increased as has the cost of their insurance. Fewer people are being employed in the industry due to the downturn in the economy and road conditions are not what they should be. It is important to highlight that those who operate in the State are very important to our economy in the context of the movement of goods and people. They are still significant employers. We expect and demand the best from them and therefore it is incumbent on us to carry out our business transparently.

Deputy Harrington raised the issue of red tape and this has been raised with me, particularly by small operators who are concerned about bureaucracy. I hope the job of the Government will be to assist them and work with them in the implementation of legislation.

I appeal to the Minister to leave the Jack Lynch tunnel without a toll. It is a very important intersection and is a key part of the road and transport infrastructure in Cork. It has served the city and county well.

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