Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

One of the sentences that has been repeated to me a lot over the past week is that the Government seems not to understand that there is a country outside of the Dublin area. There is a real divide in this country. It is really important to recognise the economic situation, especially in the midlands and north west, which is now a lagging area with lower incomes than the European average. The Government has also loaded fuel tax on people to try to force them out of private cars but has not put public transport infrastructure in place. Projects such as the western rail corridor and the Navan to Dublin rail line are simply not happening. There are tumbleweeds in that regard. We have heard of Thomas the Tank Engine. Is it the Taoiseach's legacy to be known as Simon the slowcoach?

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