Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The message is loud and clear: pressure works. The Government responds to pressure.

As usual, lastminute.comis the order of the day with the Government. It has responded and, as expected and predicted, its response is wholly inadequate. Nonetheless, the travelling public know it felt their anger.

I commend my colleague, an Teachta O'Rourke, on all of his work on this. I also commend the travelling public on making sure their voice has been heard on this matter. We need to be very clear. Those people who have no alternative but to use roads and pay tolls will not be placated by the Government kicking the can down the road. Next summer there will still be a cost-of-living crisis for commuters. Those people who are scratching out a living and driving all day will still experience a cost-of-doing-business crisis.

There is no crisis for the toll companies. As an Teachta O'Rourke highlighted eloquently, they seem to be doing very well for themselves. It seems perhaps that is all that matters to the Government. Why would they not do well? They are benefiting from a good, old-fashioned Fianna Fáil deal. We know those deals are rarely good for ordinary people or small businesses.

Kicking the can down the road serves to fool absolutely nobody. People see that the Government will respond to pressure and next July, when it tries this again, there will be the same amount of pressure. I am not sure the Government understands the situation when members of the Government say that a 10 cent increase is not a lot of money. However, when people have no choice but to use toll roads a couple of times a day or week, that is significant and it all adds up. The dismissive attitude to people who are struggling is quite the signature attitude of the Government.

It will feel people's anger because the people who are struggling today will still be struggling next July. We see who's side the Government is on. The Government has said these companies have to have cost of living increases that match inflation. The 80 cent increase in the minimum wage does not match inflation. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures show that wages are not rising at the rate of inflation, yet the Government wants to protect very well off companies.

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