Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's policy is wrong because it is crippling Cork, other regional cities and rural Ireland and it is putting workers in an impossible position by asking them to accept outrageous pay cuts. It is monumentally short-sighted because at a time when our cities are becoming more and more clogged up with cars, we need more investment in public transport. Such investment is the right thing to do economically, socially and environmentally. It is difficult not to conclude that the short-sighted approach that is being pursued at present has not come about by accident or on account of laziness, but has been arrived at on foot of deliberate Government policy. The Minister seems to be a fan of paper walls between himself and Bus Éireann and between Expressway and the PSO routes. I would like to compare the operation of the route between Cork and Waterford by a private operator with how it is operated by Bus Éireann. The Bus Éireann service stops in ten places, including small villages. That is a public service and the Minister needs to recognise that. It is only through his intervention that we will be able to have the full conversation.

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