Rural transport and local services
Members argued for a debate on public transport, rural rail and the imbalance in national infrastructure. The Leader agreed to bring the Transport Minister in and broaden discussion to balanced regional development.
I will answer that specifically in a second. The headline is about creating sensation. I will have the Minister, Deputy Ross, come to the House because it is about ensuring that we have good-quality public transport, that we have sustainable transport links but that we have transport links for rural areas. I am not afraid to say that we have a dispersed population, but we cannot have all the growth in Dublin. Last week the Taoiseach made the point in this House that parts of Dublin are beyond the M50, which was what Senator Murnane O'Connor's contribution was about. We must go beyond Naas and have that contribution, and go east and west as well. I am not aware of plans to close any railway line. I say to Senator Leyden that the report today has been in the public domain for quite some time. It was not about a freedom of information request. As I said, it was a 2016 report.
Between 2008 and 2016 the taxpayer has made €5 billion available to the three CIÉ companies through its PSO and capital investment programme. Iarnród Éireann received €3.7 billion, which is 75% of that total Exchequer funding. The issue of rail is intrinsically linked to where people live, work and wish to travel. What we must do is to ensure that we create more jobs in rural Ireland. This is at the very core of the Government's national planning framework.
I agree with what the Taoiseach said last week. Can we stop talking ourselves down and promote positivity instead? Senator Leyden referred to successes in many towns in rural Ireland. Consider the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen, for example. Let us be positive. If we want to sell Ireland, let us not be negative. The debate is necessary but must be balanced. I ask that Members listen to last Sunday's documentary on RTÉ Radio 1 about Mr. Charlie McCreevy's Hot Press interview. It is like Groundhog Day now.
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It was. What Mr. McCreevy said is anathema to some in Fianna Fáil and the Sinn Féin Party today. We will not have post offices or Garda stations on every corner.
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On a sad note, an independent and wonderful bookshop - Liam Ruiséal's - is closing in Cork. People on radio and social media are today lamenting its closure, but when did they last go into the shop? When did we last use the post office, bank or-----
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Frequently, we are put out of them. If one goes into a bank, one is told to get the hell out and use the machine. The bank does not want people.
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I have an ongoing row with Bank of Ireland, of which I am a customer, because I refuse-----
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Senator Norris is right. I refuse to use online banking.
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I agree with Senator Norris. Our banks, which we bailed out, do not want us going into them.
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A bank has only one teller's position open when we go in and queue. I was in Bank of Ireland in Douglas yesterday morning. A lady comes around, asks whether we are okay with this or whether we need to use that machine, and the queue suddenly becomes smaller. We should be asking people to go to our post offices and banks and use them,-----
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-----not driving them away. Bring them in.
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One bookseller has told people to go and buy books online.
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We will have a debate on the national planning framework and rural sustainable development.