Michael Collins
Cork South-West · Independent Ireland · Ireland
“This matter has been raised twice already this morning, but it is hugely important. I will make a personal appeal to the Taoiseach regarding Skyclarys and the further delay that has now arisen. Yesterday, Emma O'Shea came to Leinster House from west Cork with her mother, father and brother.”
“Another huge problem which normally arises in August is that relating to school buses. Parents have no way to get their children to school because of the nearest school rule. The current and previous programmes for Government contain promises that this will be done away with, but nothing has happened. The rule needs to be abolished.”
“Every parent knows that September has become one of the most expensive months of the year. While free schoolbooks are welcome, many families now face growing costs for other items. Parents are being asked to purchase laptops that cost €400 or more, make increased payments for school transport and pay charges to cover examination fees.”
“Either 25 children are left without a school place this September, or two senior infants classes are merged into one class of 34 children. Does the Minister of State agree that schools should not be punished for helping to solve an enrolment crisis? Will he immediately sanction the additional teaching posts required for St.”
“Education should not be measured by means of the distance someone lives from school, and school transport should not be measured on that basis either. I want to raise a matter that Councillor Bill Clear brought to my attention. It is a very serious issue regarding St. Corban’s National School in Naas in County Kildare.”
“I was chairperson of a board of management and know the difficulties that schools face just because they are one or two children short. That can be made up as the year goes on but it is a crisis that Councillor Clear finds unacceptable.”
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“Someone has got to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. He is not here. He should be here to discuss this as it is a serious issue. It will be detrimental to businesses and tourism and to drivers on the roads who will be frustrated and angry. We do not need that. We need to bring drivers with us to make sure roads are safe. This is an area where local authorities seem to have no say; they say it has been dictated from the top and they have to go with it and that is it. If the Minister of State said the local authorities do have a say, I accept that, but I will take it back to the local authority and I will come back to the Government again if it is not the case.”
“Clonakilty to Dunmanway has been reduced to 80 km/h, as well as Clonakilty to Timoleague, Clonakilty to Enniskean, Dunmanway to Macroom, Skibbereen to Baltimore, Skibbereen to Castletownshend, Skibbereen to Timoleague and Skibbereen to Cork. People do not have any issue with the speed limits on those roads being reduced to 80 km/h because the roads are not suitable for anything faster. However, I am talking about the main three routes into west Cork: the R585, R586 and N71. These are the concerns we have. If the speed is being reduced to 80 km/h and 60 km/h on the R585, Charlie the dog will run out beyond the cars. That is what will happen and the cyclists will as well. It is an insane proposal and it has to be negotiated. If there are dangers on the roads, by all means bring the speed down, but do not put a blanket drop on speed.”
“I thank the Minister of State. He said this decision was delayed and we know why. It was because a general election was coming. It is a hugely unpopular decision about our regional and national roads. Our councillors made queries about local roads and were told that it was basically dictated from the top. That is what the Independent Ireland councillors were told when they raised concerns. That is what politicians do. They raise concerns. I look at the roads. I have the whole thing here. It relates to the R586 and the R585 Bantry, Kealkill to Cousane, Coppeen, Bandon, Enniskean, Dunmanway and Ballineen. The speed limit on the Bandon to Timoleague road is 80 km/h. People do not see any issue with it. There is a whole lot of them where people do not see any issues. The Bantry to Kilbrittain road has been reduced to 80 km/h.”
“Roads are massively wide, wide enough to take passing bays or whatever, but the Government has forgotten all that, put it on motorists' backs and is trying to destroy businesses in rural communities where there is plenty of safe travelling going on as it is. Some of the roads I mentioned have had, thanks be to God, no serious car accident. On the odd one there is; that could happen anywhere. I am only asking if there will be consultations or will it be dictation from the top.”
“The speed limit is going to go down from 80 km/h, and in some parts from 60km/h. It is astonishing. It will be an absolute disgrace. There is a public meeting on Friday night, which is guaranteed to be packed with angry people asking public representatives what they are doing and if they are asleep in the Dáil, making blanket decisions like this without a proper consultation. It does not matter what constituency is involved. It must be affecting other constituencies too. I ask for clarity on the N71, R586 and R585. Can we work towards a solution? Some of these areas need drops, but not a blanket drop because that would destroy businesses in these towns and areas. The roads are in shocking condition. That is the problem.”
“This will cause nothing short of chaos and anarchy. I mentioned this issue in the Dáil yesterday to the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and he showed the mindet of a Dublin city Minister with no clear understanding of how rural Ireland works. We advocate for safety on the road and if there is a blackspot or a dangerous road, the local authority should reduce speed limits. There is no question or argument about that. That should be done in consultation. The way things are going, there will soon be no point in having a TD, councillor or Senator because they will have no say in anything. It is dictation from the top. We need to be careful and to make sure roads are safe but blanket drops will not work. One of the main and only routes we have is the Bandon-Ballyneen-Dunmanway-Drimoleage to Bantry road.”
“Now it seems there is a second round of speed limit drops and no consultation will be made with the general public or public representatives. There are three main routes into west Cork: the N71 through Bandon, Clonakilty, Skibbereen and Ballydehob; the R586 through Bandon, Ballyneen, Dunmanway and Drimoleague; and the R585 through Keelkill, Coosane and Cappeen. Will the N71 have a drop in speed limits? It is at 100 km/h. In some parts, it goes down to 80 km/h. That is around towns and other areas where it is accepted. Will the R586 go from 100 km/h to 80 km/h ? In some parts it is 80 km/h or 60 km/h already. Will the 80 km/h limit be reduced to 60 km/h and will the 60 km/h be reduced to 40 km/h? The speed limit on the R585 is 100 km/h. Will it go down to 80 km/h? Some parts are at 60 km/h already. Will they go down to 30 km/h or 40 km/h?”
“I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. Speed limits have been reduced on many roads in the past week. All these roads were deemed local roads and most people I have spoken to have no issue in the wide, earthly world with that. Where I am living, one of the roads had a limit of 80 km/h but motorists could not do 80 km/h unless they were out of their minds. The best they could do was 60 km/h in the first place, so there is no issue there. The problem in west Cork relates to the regional roads, R586 and R585, and the national road, N71. Many people got involved in the first rounds of the consultation thinking this was it. The drop in the local roads would be made and other roads would be left as they are.”
“We in Independent Ireland would like a discussion on the new speed limits that are causing serious concerns all over the country. They went down from 80 km/h to 60 km/h on the local routes, which most people accepted, but now we are being told that speed limits on regional routes, which are the main routes into a lot of our constituencies, are going from 100 km/h to 80 km/h and from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. If that is to continue, it will cause widespread damage to our economy and it cannot be allowed to go ahead. There has to be discussion. We fully accept that there are blackspots but we ask for time so that public representatives - be they councillors, TDs or Senators - have some say in what is going to happen in their constituencies.”
“Inniscarra could have lost power, thus closing thousands of jobs, so to speak, and affecting hospitals and everyone else on the Inniscarra line. This is the same for water and wastewater treatment plants in Cork county. As far as I am aware, there is not even a changeover switch in any of these plants. This, when the agency has specific employees paid to oversee generators in these plants, is unacceptable.”
“There are still people without electricity, hot food, water and other basic essentials. Ireland is not a Third World country, but the way we reacted to this storm made us look like one. An 8 kVA generator is sufficient to power an average house in the event of a power outage. Such a generator would cost approximately €1,500 and the cost of wiring the house with a changeover switch would be about €1,000. Grants should be made available to all ESB customers in rural Ireland to enable them to have standby generators. These grants can come from the massive profits the ESB makes from its customers. Questions also need asking of Uisce Éireann. I am reliably informed it has no generator in its water or wastewater treatment plants to be used if the storm had taken Cork harder than it did.”
“I extend my sincere gratitude to the Irish and international workers for their tremendous efforts to date. I am fully aware of the hardships faced by many, especially in the west and parts of the midlands. I happened to be in Whitehall and Castlebrock, Longford, over the weekend and witnessed the extensive damage at first hand, with trees lying across roads and houses with large trees having fallen against them, broadband boxes hanging off poles and wires strewn everywhere. The response from the Government was appallingly slow, particularly for the most vulnerable, including our elderly, sick and farming community. Action must now take place to cut back trees to 30 m from roadsides and power lines to prevent future incidents that will end lives. Trees can be sown inside lands in future.”
“The increased VAT rate on the hospitality sector has left a total of 612 hospitality businesses closed in the past 12 months throughout the country. I acknowledge that in the programme for Government a reduction in the VAT rate is planned for the hospitality sector but for hundreds of cafés, restaurants and hairdressers this will be too little, too late. After much pleading, the Government has accepted that there is a crisis. Will the Government drop the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% in the upcoming budget? Will this Government, with the full agreement of the House, immediately drop that VAT rate from 13.5% to 9%?”
“This is one of the most significant emergencies this country has ever faced and we need proper answers to be given here in the Dáil by each relevant Minister.”
“We, too, object to the Order of Business. While I accept that the Chief Whip has done everything she can to give us as much time as possible to discuss the storm, it is still a very serious concern out there. The relevant Ministers - the Minister for the environment, the Minister for Health, the Minister for disabilities, the Minister for Education and the Minister for Social Protection and rural affairs - must come before the Dáil to outline exactly what is going to be done. We have 18,000 homes still without power. We have damaged houses and sheds blown to the ground with cattle exposed there. There are people with no water, heat or food, and there is no adequate emergency response in place from the Government.”
“The facts have been revealed today. There were 6.7% fewer houses built last year, only 30,330. There is no vision in this Government to resolve this issue. One of our main proposals in health was that a medical card be given to all cancer patients for the duration of their treatment. It is unfortunate that this was refused. I wish Deputy Martin well. I look forward to being constructive in opposition in the years ahead.”
“The declaration of a housing emergency would have expedited solutions to the housing crisis where more than 15,000 people, many of whom are children, are without a home. The declaration of a housing emergency should bring power over county development plans back to the people and allow planning in urban and rural communities. The Government did not take on board Independent Ireland's policies on deadlines for wastewater treatment plant completions, an issue that leaves communities all over the country without the infrastructure needed to build. Its housing targets and the housing targets of all other political parties in this Dáil will lie in tatters at the end of this year because homes cannot be built without proper infrastructure. Last week's announcement that 64,000 houses had been started in 2024 was fake news.”
“The omissions from the programme for Government are alarming. These include a freeze on carbon tax increases. This has now been forgotten by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents who signed up to this agreement. This is a hammer blow to the ordinary men and women who have to go about their daily business. It is a blow to the haulier who is supplying goods throughout the country and who, with every increase, will have to up the price of hauling goods to our shops. It is also a hammer blow to every farmer in this country who has to use agricultural vehicles to put food on our tables. Shame on anyone who signed up to a deal that hits the most vulnerable in this country. We in Independent Ireland advised the Government parties to declare a housing emergency but they have failed to do so in their programme for Government.”
“Independent Ireland congratulates Deputy Micheál Martin and his family on his election as Taoiseach today. Independent Ireland has very serious concerns for our country and looking at the new programme for Government, which is more or less cut and pasted from the last one, leads us to believe that little will change for the next five years for the many people struggling on a daily basisi in our country. While some of Independent Ireland's policies are being adopted, such as the appointment of a Minister for fisheries and the marine, a full rejection of the Mercosur deal and a decrease in the VAT rate to 9%, which has now been promised in the programme for Government, the detail is still very vague. For the many hospitality businesses that have closed their doors, it is too little too late.”
“I know. I am almost finished. We have a health crisis, with people on trolleys. We have a cost-of-living crisis and we want to discuss whether the carbon tax can continue in this country if we are not to further crucify people. We have an agricultural crisis where people are not getting their payments and we have a fisheries crisis, where the quotas of fishermen are being taken from them.”
“Like others, a Cheann Comhairle, I thank you for resolving the situation that we have had, which has now been going on for seven days. The very democracy of the Irish Republic was in question here and it had to be resolved before we could go forward. We cannot have the situation that was being put before us. That looks like it is going to be resolved going forward and a settlement was made here today, which I appreciate. We will not be supporting the suspension of the House for two weeks. We have a housing crisis, with 15,000 people without homes and young children without a home.”
“That technical group has a right to speak from within Government ranks but not from within the Opposition ranks. It cannot work both ways. I plead, therefore, with the Ceann Comhairle to come to the most sensible decision here and let democracy take its course in this country.”
“The numbers were added up and we knew where the jobs were going to go. Now, they want to take another two weeks out. It is shocking, to be quite honest. The public out there are furious about it. We can hear it in their voices, locally and nationally. It is an issue that must be resolved and we must have a Dáil sitting here next week, get back to business and deal with those people who are without homes or are lying on trolleys. On speaking time, I made it clear in the meeting of the Business Committee that Independent Ireland is totally opposed to what is being proposed. I know it is only a temporary situation today, but going forward it must be resolved. You cannot be on the inside and on the outside. We were very fair in the Business Committee because we said that people have a right to speak here.”
“I wish the Ceann Comhairle well. I also wish all my colleagues well on their election to this new Dáil. It has been 15 weeks since an election was called and nine weeks since we had the election. It is scandalous, to be quite honest, when we have a housing crisis where 15,000 people are without homes and there is a health crisis with people on trolleys. This is happening year after year and time after time. We have a cost-of-living crisis. Ordinary farmers, because of an IT problem in the Department of agriculture, cannot get their payments. Now it is proposed that we take another two weeks off to do I do not know what. I would say the new Government was sorted and solved the day after the count in the general election. The parties knew exactly what way things were going.”