Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

That is €15 million out of the pockets of hard-pressed bus workers who already have had to endure cuts. The Taoiseach has chosen to avoid the fact that choices are always available. Rather than taking money from the pockets of modestly paid workers, why could the Taoiseach not have chosen instead to tax the new millionaires who have gained extra wealth under his stewardship? For example, could he not bring in a 5% hike on the new earners of more than €300,000 per annum, whose numbers have sky-rocketed under the Taoiseach's stewardship, in order to meet the deficit he wants public sector workers to shoulder?

At the behest of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deloitte - an independent group - undertook a study on Bus Éireann and found that it was an incredibly efficient and well-run company off the backs of a good and modestly paid workforce.

The idea that the Minister expects them to make savings of €5 million while he continues to subvent the private sector is reprehensible and is a bit of a fairy tale.

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