Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I have the greatest respect for the Deputies opposite and they know that. Our offices used to be opposite each other and we always got on very well. I therefore find it strange when such personal invective is used. I was thinking about how to respond. Let us talk about Dingle. Let us go down to Dingle. Every place and every person matters. I absolutely respect the mandate of every voter who voted for Deputy Healy-Rae, as I am sure he respects every voter who voted for me. Dingle is a very interesting place that is showing real opportunity. It was the first place where we put in new rural public transport services. Deputy Michael Collins rightly recognised these services, which are now running from Castletownbere and all points in between and across the country. Dingle is where it started. We put in the new bus service. The service was hopeless prior to that, so we put in a regular service. There has been a twentyfold increase in users, especially among young people. These are not just tourists; they are local people. It is working.

In Dingle, the farmers are starting to turn things around. They are being smart, monitoring and measuring the environment, and starting to think about how to do it well enough to make money. They know this is the future.

Regarding the bus, we are going to have to learn by doing. There may be instances where a new technology is used and does not work perfectly. You learn, you reverse and you go back.

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