Seanad Report: The Leader of the House, Ms Mary O'Rourke, joined other members in strongly criticising the planned increase in toll charges for the West Link bridge on the M50 motorway.
"I think that's pure greed. They are hugely benefiting by the increase of motor traffic, anyway," she said.
Mr Eddie Bohan (FF) said it was an absolute outrage that these people were allowed to put the charges up by at least 20 per cent at a time when inflation was running at around 2½ per cent. He believed that these toll bridges had been paid for several times over. Unfortunate commuters having to use them to travel to and from work were being ripped off.
Ms Ann Ormonde (FF) said that a knock-on effect of the high toll charges was that residential areas were being clogged up with traffic, thereby causing a danger to people living in them.
Mr Shane Ross (Ind) said he hoped Government members would support a motion he had tabled calling on the Government to take urgent measures to ensure that the West Link toll bridge was opened up, even if that meant buying it.
He would not mind it being nationalised. Originally the bridge had catered for about 11,000 vehicles per day but this had risen to 90,000.
It was an absolute absurdity that this bridge was allowed to obstruct the traffic of Dublin and the present situation would only get worse when the M50 was upgraded, he said.
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Mr David Norris (Ind) said he wished to commend the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, for the dignity with which he had mustered the ability to make a lengthy telephone call to the DUP leader, Dr Ian Paisley, on Monday last, to clarify matters relating to the peace process. "I think that shows considerable grit and I think he increased his stature by so doing. I don't think the same dignity was reflected on the other side".
Dr Martin Mansergh (FF) said he believed that the Taoiseach had given an example, as he had done in relation to the negotiation of the Good Friday agreement, of a non-macho approach to making peace. He had demonstrated that he was prepared to go to great lengths and to make personal sacrifices, and not to put his own standing or anything in the way of making peace. That was a good example to all the parties in Northern Ireland and, where relevant, to parties in the South as well.
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Welcoming the steps being taken by the Minister for Justice to facilitate non-nationals claiming residence here on the basis of having children who were born in this country, Dr Mary Henry (Ind) said she hoped that the planned measures would be extended to people who had already been deported from Ireland with their citizen children and to those who had left their Irish citizen children here.
The Leader of the House, Ms Mary O'Rourke, said she hoped that asylum-seekers would be enabled to take up job opportunities. There were hundreds of such people in the Athlone area and they did not want to be walking around aimlessly day after day. They wanted to work and to integrate into the community. She hoped that in the latest round of decision-making, jobs eligibility for these people would be considered.
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We could find ourselves at a disadvantage in relation to other countries if we did not begin to put in place arrangements for the introduction of personal identity cards, Mr Feargal Quinn (Ind) said. Mr Quinn said that Ireland was one of the few countries that did not have some form of compulsory ID card. If we did not take the first steps in the direction of an ID card system, we might well find ourselves outflanked, as we had been to a certain extent by the EU Shengen Agreement, where Britain's refusal to join had had an impact on us and had led to people having to use passports even to travel to the continent.