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

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply, but he should not mention about LEADER funding because that is after being cut going forward. I would say the Taoiseach should stop thinking about that dream.

The public transport is the same, with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, kicking the can down the road. It might happen in the next few years, the Taoiseach is saying. A Deputy said this and a Deputy said that. There is no delivery. There is one public transport service leaving the Mizen Peninsula at 7 o'clock in the morning. Nothing is returning until 7 o'clock in the evening.

I asked the Taoiseach for solutions to this fuel crisis but he has no solutions. What do I say to the haulier operator who is paying €1,000 a month more on fuel this year than last year and cannot continue? What do I say to the local bus operators who are barely surviving? Look at West Cork Connect, an independent bus operator who goes to Cork several times a day from Skibbereen and Bantry, providing an incredible service, whom it was costing €110 on a round trip last year and is now costing €165. The Taoiseach does not seem to be able to grasp the crisis that is out there in rural Ireland as there is little or no public transport for us to avail of as the Government continues to take €57 of tax, one way or another, in every €100 spent on petrol. Will the Taoiseach immediately reverse that carbon tax increase in rural Ireland and let us know further measures, or any measures, the Government is taking to save many of those I spoke about earlier from going out of business?

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