Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be voting against the Bill, mainly due to the regressive carbon tax measures in it. The carbon tax is an attack on the people of rural Ireland and the people of my constituency of Cork South-West. It is an attack on the lorry driver, the agricultural contractors, the fishermen who must fill their trawlers and the ordinary father and mother who go to work every day and take their kids to school. They are being hit in the pocket at the filling station when they move.

The same politicians from Cork South-West voting for this Bill will be knocking on people's doors at some stage looking for a vote with a smile on their face, saying they did well for those same people. What did they do? They are set to destroy those people and take money from their pockets. They are hurting the same people who must fill the home heating oil at some stage at an extra cost. They cannot fill the car or buy a bag of coal, which is now an outrageous price.

The days of balancing the books are truly behind us and governments all over the western world are now running expansionary budgets. The allocation of €5 million in funding for digital hubs and €132 million for the national broadband plan is completely inadequate. In 2021, many parts of rural Ireland will be without adequate broadband despite opportunities being created for remote working by this crisis. The budget is a missed opportunity to recalibrate for a society that has changed to remote working, and this could completely transform many parts of rural Ireland into vibrant communities, with consequent benefits.

The Minister, like me, probably knows of blackspots all over his area. In my area there are parts of Bandon, Kinsale, down to Ballinadee and right back to Bantry and Skibbereen where there are broadband blackspots that could be easily solved with a small bit of funding and thought. It is not forthcoming and the least amount of money is being put forward again this year. Broadband will be spoken about down the road.

There is funding for Irish Water but there is little or no funding for major projects that must be carried out in Cork South-West. It is only about what money can be grabbed from us so we can insulate the homes of people in Dublin and beyond. It is what I can see. There are projects in Bantry that are in desperate need of progression but no funding is to be set aside for it.

The 600 houses required in Clonakilty will not be going ahead because serious investment in water infrastructure is needed. I have spoken to developers in Clonakilty who have even been refused planning permission. It is one of the most vibrant towns in west Cork, and I admit it is great to see it and we should not deny any bit of vibrancy in a community. These towns need investment in the local community but they cannot get it.

I had a Zoom call with the Bandon business association the other day. They want the southern relief road to progress the town, which was partially done before people walked away 15 or 20 years ago. There was talk of doing half of a proposed northern relief road as well. It seems only half of everything comes to west Cork, or even zero, as there is nothing happening with the northern relief road. These people need the southern relief road finished. There must be funding to get towns like this up and running. There was a big announcement on St. Brogan's school in Bandon, but no sod has been turned yet. There is a desperate need for a stand-alone community college in Bandon. It is the kind of investment we need in places like Bandon.

Why are people paying VAT on PPE? There should be zero VAT on Covid-related PPE, so why is the Government profiting from people who are desperate to protect themselves from illness?

Many businesses want financial institutions to lower card transaction costs, given that most transactions are now cashless. This is a big issue for smaller businesses, who wish to lower the transaction costs for credit card payments. I have very little time left but we must also consider putting in place a mortgage moratorium for all businesses affected by Covid-19. This was discussed before. It should also apply to homeowners for the months in which they are struggling.

Publicans are losing businesses and the Government shut them with the click of a finger. They got away with it but when we caused a bit of excitement here, they were reopened. The Government is happy to have them shut again. I spoke to a publican the other day who spoke to his bank, which is not willing to give him any grace. It is game over as far as that bank is concerned.

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