Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also want to speak to Financial Resolution No. 2. The reality is that most people who live in rural Ireland have no option because they must travel to work. For instance, if a person is working in Sligo town and living in Tubbercurry, he or she has no other way of going to work other than to drive a car. Most of those people are an low incomes and cannot afford an electric car, even if the necessary charging points were in place. That is the reality for most people living out there.

A woman who is working recently came to me. She has an old stone house that is beautiful to look at but very cold. She put new windows into it but cannot afford to insulate it. There is nothing in this budget to provide for her to insulate her home. The Government needs to be doing that first. It must provide the correct options for people. We want people to insulate their homes and use carbon-efficient means of transport but they cannot be penalised for not doing those things unless the Government puts measures in place to provide access for people to use alternatives.

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