Many people in the country looked with hope to the Minister's speech on this Estimate. Unfortunately, they have been very disillusioned indeed. For the most part, the Minister indulged in generalities and in no instance did he give a specific case of anything which was being done by his Department, except one mention of the oil refinery. That has disillusioned many industrialists in the country as a whole and it has disillusioned many of those who voted for the inter-Party Government in the last election or for their candidates.
There are some points which I think should be referred to specifically when the Minister is replying. I and other Deputies find from time to time that when we put down a question here about C.I.E. the Minister invariably says that he has no function. He dealt with C.I.E. at very great length in his speech. What I want to know is, if he has no function in the operating of C.I.E., would he tell me why he interfered with a major decision taken by the entire board and unanimously agreed by them? I refer to the decision by C.I.E. to establish in Limerick a steam locomotive repair unit. I understand that that industry—it could be called an industry—would have meant 120 employees coming from Dublin to the City of Limerick and I understand also that, in due course, these 120 keymen would have trained other operatives and that an apprenticeship scheme was to be initiated. It would have meant to the City of Limerick over £60,000 a year in revenue, in wages, and would also have been of great benefit to the rates of the city.
The Minister gave as an explanation in relation to one question I put down here that he had no function in the matter and then, when I asked why this decision had been reversed, he said he had made representations to C.I.E. The Minister cannot have it both ways. If he has no function, why did he make representations? The full board of C.I.E. unanimously adopted this decision and then the Minister interfered and used his position. I should like him to give a detailed statement on that matter. The employment position in Limerick is not good to-day and this would have meant quite a lot to us down there.
When I raised the question of the scrapping of the timber wagons, I again got the answer that the Minister had no function. I again point out to him, as he has interested himself so vitally in the affairs of C.I.E., that every week timber wagons are being scrapped in Limerick for the sake of a cost of £50 or £60 and being sent to Cork and eventually to Haulbowline. I do not think that is good enough and the Minister should find out the exact details of that situation. If he wants any further assistance from me, I shall be glad to help him in that line. I have heard it discussed by workers, supporters of all political Parties, in the locomotive works in Limerick and they say that it is fantastic that this policy of scrapping timber wagons for the sake of such a small expenditure should be pursued. We all know what Limerick suffered in the past under the Coalition Government. We know that the wagon shops which were to be built there and which would have given a great deal of employment were scrapped and I can hardly be blamed, therefore, if I get up here to look after the interests of Limerick, in view of what took place in the past and what has taken place in the very recent past.
The previous Government earmarked a sum of £20,000 from the National Development Fund for the construction of a bridge or a tunnel across the main Limerick-Cork road in connection with the link line connecting the cement factory with the railway station. That sum has been taken out of the allocations from the National Development Fund and C.I.E has now published its intention and has lodged its plans under the Transport Act of 1950. I have inspected these plans and I find that they show a level crossing. I submit that, if anything, the tendency is— and it had the unanimous support of all parties previously—that level crossings should be done away with on main trunk roads. It is a very serious thing that, on the main Limerick-Cork road, 220 yards from the regional hospital, C.I.E. should put down a level crossing.
I cannot see why that sum of £20,000 was taken from us in Limerick. The Minister for Agriculture took £600,000 from us when he transferred the bovine tuberculosis scheme up to Sligo. Perhaps he had grounds for doing so, but I do say that the Minister should seriously consider making this allocation for a tunnel or a bridge across this main trunk road. Most Deputies know the Dublin-Limerick road and they know that five miles from Limerick, at Lisnagry, there is a level crossing and that, for some reason best known to C.I.E. when a train is at Castleconnell, cars on either side are held up for quite long periods. I am sure that every Deputy has had that experience. I think it was the intention of the previous Government to earmark a sum for a tunnel or a bridge in that area also. However, it is a matter of major policy which was agreed on by C.I.E., but, due to the intervention of the Minister, or the Government as a whole, the idea has been dropped and it is just another case of money allocated to Limerick— in this case, £20,000—which would not have cost the ratepayers one penny being taken from us.
While dealing with C.I.E., there is another matter in regard to which the Minister might have inquiries made— the complete lack of bus shelters in the city. It is not my intention to go over all the policy of the Minister, but I am citing certain specific matters. I have made representations on several occasions to C.I.E., with a view to having bus shelters erected in the city, but we have got no satisfaction whatever. Certainly their suggestion that, in places, the footpaths are too small or too narrow could not stand up. The Minister surely cannot say again that he has no function in the matter and that it is a matter for C.I.E., because the Minister interested himself very vitally in the Dún Laoghaire-Dublin route and expressed himself very strongly in this House as being of the opinion that the services given by C.I.E. on that run were totally unsuitable and inadequate. The Minister can interest himself in these matters and surely he will not forget that there is a city called Limerick and will make representations with a view to getting something done for the unfortunate citizens there who are being drowned every year.
The Minister, in the whole of his speech, made no reference at all to prices. Only last Sunday, I was looking again at the document that was hawked around—they should get a hawker's licence for it—setting out the prices prevailing in 1951 and in 1954. It is not my intention to give any more quotations—we have had enough quotations from election addresses— but at the bottom of the document there is: "Vote Fine Gael for better times." The citizens of this country know now what they are getting. They are getting "quare times", and it is not Pat Taaffe who is riding——