FG members urge Varadkar to intervene on cost of motoring
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he will bring the concerns to the Finance Minister. Picture: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie
Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar has been urged by members of his party to seek cuts to the cost of motoring before the October budget.
A trio of Munster representatives told their party leader at the weekly parliamentary party meeting that the rising costs are impacting rural communities particularly.
Sources said Kerry TD Brendan Griffin, Clare TD Joe Carey, and Cork South West senator Tim Lombard all told Mr Varadkar that something has to be done in the short term.
One idea floated by Mr Lombard was a suspension of motor tax to give around €250 back to motorists. He said part of the loss of income would be offset by savings in administration.
Mr Varadkar told the meeting he would bring these concerns to Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who is to meet with the party on June 28 to discuss the budget.
The Tánaiste gave the meeting a presentation on plans to phase in a living wage, which were announced on Tuesday, while a motion from Justice Minister Helen McEntee on public transport was also discussed.
The motion called on Fine Gael “to support the Fairer Fares Campaign to extend the Short Hop Zone out to 55km distance from Dublin City Centre, to include the commuter towns of Gormanston, Laytown, Drogheda, Enfield, Newbridge, and Wicklow, so as to encourage the public in using public transport more frequently on a daily basis, and to direct the NTA to include same as part of the Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area”.
It was agreed unanimously, with members saying that the principle should be extended to other areas of the country where commuter rail services exist.
Fianna Fáil’s parliamentary party heard that the party headquarters believes that polling which sees the party trailing both Sinn Féin and Fine Gael are not accurate.
Party chairman Sean Dorgan gave representatives a presentation on recent polls and said that Fianna Fáil is doing better than their current polling at 22%.
Many TDs did not attend due to the absence of leader Micheál Martin, with one who left after five minutes saying they were sure they had "missed nothing", referring to Sean Dorgan's presentation.
In one debate, Senator Ned O’Sullivan said he was concerned that Sinn Féin had infiltrated Red C polling.
Mr O'Sullivan would not deny the comments when approached by the , but said he accepted the bona fides of all legitimate polling companies and did not want to comment further on internal party matters.
The group also discussed the party's internal policy committees and where individual spokespeople could be stronger, while TDs Barry Cowen and John McGuinness said they supported President Micheal D Higgins on his recent comments on the housing emergency, saying that he was just giving voice to public opinion.
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