Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

People are sick to the teeth of this Government hiking prices left, right and centre. Ordinary people are sick of being at the bottom of the pile time and again. Once again this Government is trying to sneak through measures that will put even more pressure on the pockets of ordinary people. We are talking about a counterbalance to Dublin in Cork but the reality is that without public transport we need connectivity. People coming from outside of Cork have no way to access Dublin and no main roads unless they are going through tolls. The only other way to travel from Cork city is to get the train. The fares for doing so are expensive. I will give the Minister of State an idea of those fares. This weekend, if two people want to travel to Dublin from Cork, it will cost over €100. That is to sit in the train with no refreshments because they have been suspended since the time of Covid. A lot of people do not have the money to pay for the train. People are struggling to put petrol and diesel in their cars and now this Government is putting tolls up on top of it.

We hear a lot of talk about the need for the carrot-and-stick approach. If you are a developer, a land hoarder or someone sitting on derelict sites there are loads of carrots but little stick. There is a reward all the time for the friends of the Government but for ordinary people looking to travel around the State there are only sticks. The Government is punishing ordinary people again, when their bills have gone up and when people cannot afford to put diesel or petrol in their cars. At what stage will the Government say that enough is enough for ordinary people. These are people who are in the eye of a cost-of-living storm and this is what the Government is doing. The increase will only add to inflation. People will have to pay more to travel and haulage companies and businesses are all affected. However, once again, the private companies and their profits continue to rise.

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