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

We will. This is related to the fuels, cars and extra costs which have occurred for the ordinary working person. These extra costs are severe for the fishermen, contractors, the hauliers and the farmers, as well as for the ordinary mother and father taking their children to school and going to work every day. The people of rural Ireland - no one else - will have to pay this extra tax.

The carbon tax and all this were designed to take money out of people's pockets in rural Ireland. I was totally opposed to it when it was first sold to my colleagues prior to the general election. They were all in favour of it then and thought it was a great idea. They were told it would raise moneys to give back to rural Ireland in other ways.

The Government failed at the very first hurdle, however. It announced €63 million funding for greenways. The constituency of Cork South-West, which will pay the most carbon tax in this country because it is the most rural part of the country, will not get one brown cent from this greenway funding. Fabulous greenway projects from Cork to Kinsale, Innishannon to Bandon, the Bandon rail line all the way to Bantry, through Drimoleague and Dunmanway, the Bandon rail line to Schull, through Clonakilty and Skibbereen, were refused funding. The moneys to be raised by this carbon tax were meant to put back into rural communities. What really happened was the Government sucked as much as it could out of rural Ireland and landed it back here in the capital to aid projects that need to be carried out. I do not have any issue with that because common sense states there have to be projects here too. I have been proved to be 100% right that the Government failed with the greenway funding, however. If it was a horse at the first hurdle, it would have collapsed and been taken off the track.

The Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, was holidaying in west Cork. Every time I opened up social media on my phone, it told me the Taoiseach and everyone in the Government was down in west Cork. While they are very welcome, when it comes to the time to give a bit of funding back to the people of west Cork, it is forgotten. The Minister is the man with the keys to this car. He is the driving force. Why has funding not been given to the people of west Cork for the N71 or R586? The road from Bandon to Ballydehob has no passing bays. Eighteen years ago was the last time funding was given for a bypass in Skibbereen. There has not been a brown cent since but only a little bit of pothole and storm damage money. That is a disgrace. We are living there too. It is same with the R586 from Bandon to Bantry.

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