asked the Minister for Local Government the amount of motor taxation paid in respect of buses and lorries based, operated and used by Córas Iompair Éireann in Cork County in each of the years 1955 to 1960, inclusive; the county in which it was paid; and whether Cork County has been given the benefit of these payments in grants from the Road Fund.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Taxation on Cork-based C.I.E. Vehicles.
17.
The information requested in the first two parts of the Deputy's question is not available in my Department. Road Fund grants are based on road needs and not on the amount of motor taxation collected in an area.
May I inquire whether the Minister had any consultation with his colleague, the Minister for Transport and Power, before the Minister for Transport and Power directed C.I.E. to close the branch lines?
That is an entirely different question.
Surely it is the responsibility of the Minister for Local Government.
It is a deduction; therefore it is an argument.
I am asking the Minister whether he was concerned at the fact that as a consequence of the railway closures, the volume of traffic on the roads would be such as to involve a heavier cost to the taxpayers.
The Minister for Local Government, like all other Ministers, is concerned about everybody's welfare everywhere.
What is everybody's business is nobody's business, and they do nothing.