Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The €36 million is still available and to the extent that I can, I will not allow public transport to collapse. The money is available but it will only get the companies to the end of the year. I will not have enough money next year and €36 million will not solve the problems of the company next year. In the past, Governments could come up with more money if it was needed but that is not how the country works anymore. We are part of an IMF-troika programme and there are spending ceilings that cannot be broken. This year, I might be able to take money from one pocket and put it into the other, rob Peter to pay Paul and kick the can down the road, but I am running out of pockets and I am running out of road. If we do not see progress on the four issues I have mentioned, I will not be able to find the money to keep the companies operating by the middle to end of next year. Then, there will be no choice and public transport will fail. I do not expect CIE to find €36 million by 31 December, but it must make progress on those four areas so it does not require an additional subvention next year because I will not have it.

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