Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

If we were depending on Senator Bannon's policies, including positive discrimination, there would be very little going into the west.

The signage changeover from miles to kilometres is a matter for the Department of Transport, with which we are working closely. All the funding is being ring-fenced. We will see tremendous progress in the coming years. I look forward to the report from the consultants, which will help us in the Department. It will also help local authorities to prepare a revised multi-annual programme. Senator Mansergh described it as a progressive tax and it certainly is. It represents a reasonable increase of 5%. Senator Moylan said it was sensible to have an increase each year. While there may have been an increase of 12% last year, there was no increase in the preceding year.

I am pleased to present the Bill to the House. I am also happy to respond to the issues that have been raised by Senators. More importantly, I am proud of our record in Government and I look forward to substantial improvements in the years ahead. Hopefully, we will never return to the Building on Reality proposals of the mid-1980s. My memory is good enough to recall who was in Government then. It was almost a case of building on quicksand at that time and we did not even have sand to fill the potholes.