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

This future investment fund being proposed will amount to €4.1 billion from this year until 2041, up to €100 billion. That is some kind of a rainy day fund. I tell the Minister it is raining and pouring now and many people, not only the farmers, are in trouble. On top of that, the Government is proposing a fund of €2 billion each year until 2030 fund for climate action and nature, €14 billion for the next seven years, on top of the €1 million per day - €365 million each year - for climate action projects, and much more that I do not know about.

Transport, including buses, are a complete joke in many places. We have buses running in County Kerry that will not stop to pick up anyone or to leave anyone off. Most of the time, looking at them, they are the biggest coaches in the country with no one at all inside in them. Where is the money coming from? I will tell the Minister where it is coming from. It is coming from the fellas who are paying 40% and 52% in taxes, as well as 4.5% in USC out of their wages, while they are out early every morning and working every day. It is from the people who are paying more than €1 per litre for excise duty and carbon tax. The Government is getting €1 for every litre and it is still not satisfied. It wants to charge more. Already, €2.5 billion is being spent on immigration and €860,000 for bringing dogs and cats from abroad into Ireland and assisting people to bring these pets. There is no shame in the world in the Government. It is talking about the farmers and I am talking about them too because what it has done is absolutely nonsensical. It proposes to pay for transport through the co-ops just if farmers are bringing fodder for more than 75 km. Many fellas can buy the bales way closer to them. As for the carbon footprint, the Government is trying to force farmers to go beyond the 75 km when all they want is help, either a voucher or some kind of a subsidy such as maybe 100 tonnes towards the cost of ration. It will not pay many of the farmers back for equipment they put in and there is no word at all about the national debt. Where did the problem with the national debt go? We could not pay for a sewerage scheme - nothing at all - or for a water main and we are still not doing anything about our treatment plants. There are places such as Moyvane in north Kerry where you cannot build an extra house because the treatment plant is overburdened. It is the same with Brosna. There is no treatment plan in Scartaglin or Curragh and several other places that need upgrades like Castleisland. Things are at a complete standstill and this is where the Government is going with the money.

Talking about roads, the Government had no bother in the world in giving €600 million for some road above in the North of Ireland that is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. At the same time, no bob was given for the road from Blackwater Bridge to Parknasilla and Sneem, part of the Ring of Kerry route. Parts of this were built maybe 150 years ago for the width of one horse and cart. It was built not so two could pass each other but for one, and they are still that way. If you go around some of those roads with a low load or a car, someone will finish up off the road if they cannot stop.

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