Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important matter today. It is gas to see Labour Party Members try to make amends after the harm they did when they were in government and were in power. I know better than anyone else that people's wages do not go far enough now because of the cost of everything, including the cost of travelling to work. In Kerry, people need to travel to work. There are no buses or public transport from places like Gneeveguilla, Lauragh or Cahersiveen. In the hinterlands of those great places there is no public transport. However, those people are paying carbon tax to reduce bus fares in this city.

I support the thrust of the Bill, but employers are also in the mix. Nobody here is helping employers - putting every regulation in the world on them and putting every increase in their way by the way of carbon tax, which the Labour Party and all Government parties have supported in every motion in this Dáil Chamber. The Government and Opposition combined are hurting the working man and they are consistently doing that by hurting employers as well.

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