Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister seems to have handed over responsibility. I am surprised. The question was very direct and precise and I thought he would be only too happy to deal with it. I will repeat the question. I asked for details of the exact breakdown of additional spend for each of the three CIÉ companies, capital and current. Even if he has given over responsibility to the NTA, the fact he did not request those figures from the NTA, and then is happy to tell me exactly what was allocated for each company in capital and current spending, speaks volumes. This is added to the fact the last three budgets have been disastrous for transport. When a €30 million reduction in capital spend this year for transport, tourism and sport is taken into account, what the Minister secured overall was just €20 million in additional spend for his entire portfolio. There is no investment worth speaking of. Even for the basics like regional roads, rail and public transport, there is nothing. That the Minister could not come in here and tell me that he secured X, Y and Z in capital and current funding for each of the CIÉ companies is not what I expected.

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