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

Go raibh maith agat. When I opened the budget book yesterday, I could not believe my eyes. I checked and rechecked it, and nowhere in the budget book was the word "addiction" mentioned. In a year when the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs had recommendation after recommendation for increased funding and a priority for addiction services, this Government either forgot or could not be bothered to include any such reference in the budget book. This is the first time this has happened since I was elected, but it is not the first time this Government has forgotten about those working in and those benefiting from addiction services. Time after time, from section 39 pay increases to the failure to restore task force funding, those in addiction and those who love them know that they are being forgotten about by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. This is not just about individuals but about communities, families and people's futures. It is all about investing in recovery from and tackling addiction and supporting communities. Sinn Féin would have invested more than €35 million aimed at properly transforming our resource and community addiction sector and actually beginning to recover our communities, our families and our people.

Right now, in Cork, people are standing at bus stops waiting for buses that will not show up or they will arrive home late or get to work late because of a lack of buses. Cork city and its people have sent a clear message through a series of meetings and protests I organised that we will not accept an unreliable bus service. The solution that Bus Éireann and the NTA have come up with is to cut more than 800 scheduled services every week, starting on 20 October, and running through the winter months. Now, instead of people standing for buses that turn up, they will be standing for buses that will be full and will drive past them. This is an absolute disgrace. Would any second city in any state in Europe put up with a bus service that does not deliver, does not turn up and that is in crisis? There was no money in this budget to support Bus Éireann in Cork. The NTA has an awful lot to answer for and it is about time this Government, if it is really serious about climate change and the environment, delivered the buses we need in Cork.

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