Eat Your Greens

[ChairmanMiah]

So what do you make of this from the budget?

Yesterday one Minister announced:
The Government must also encourage significant behavioural change by providing a clear vision of a more sustainable transport future backed up by strong policies ... Today I can confirm that the Minister and I will be providing a special cycling package for Dublin to the tune of €5 million to include funding for work on the city centre portion of the proposed Sutton to Sandycove cycle route.

And later another Minister announced that because it was felt the disability allowance does not give an incentive for a [disabled] child to pursue work or education options:
The age of eligibility for entitlement to disability allowance is being increased from 16 years to 18 years for new claimants. This change will not affect existing 16 and 17 year olds on disability allowance. As an alleviating measure, the age for entitlement to the domiciliary care allowance is being increased from 16 years to 18 years. It is estimated that a weekly average of 539 persons will be affected by this measure in 2009 and 2,115 in a full year. These changes are expected to save €5.6 million in 2009 and €16.6 million a year from 2010.

Why is it Norman Tebbit's words keep ringing in my ear ... "get on your bike and look for work" ...?

[Actin The Sham]

They are going to give a tax incentive to employers who pay for bicycles for their employees in order to take cars off the roads.

How are they going to enforce that like? Imagine it, you go into your boss and he or she says, "Here, have a Raleigh Chopper, the government are paying for it," and you go "Thanks very much," and then put it into the boot of the car and take it home and give it to your smallie.

This is not an exaggeration, this is exactly what is going to happen, except it might not be a Raleigh Chopper it might be a Happy Sandal Lentil 150, and Minister Gormley has already admitted that it will be impossible to police whether the people are actually using the bicycles to cycle to work.

Are these guys for real or what like?


(By the way, Cork loses out again, imagine cycling up St. Lukes or Barrack Street, or Shandon Street, or Strawberry Hill.)

[Ciotóg]

(By the way, Cork loses out again, imagine cycling up St. Lukes or Barrack Street, or Shandon Street, or Strawberry Hill.)
I don't imagine it, I actually do it. It's grand altogether. (Well, I don't actually cycle up Strawberry Hill but I do cycle up the others. Climpy out.)

You just want to blame the Greens for there being hills in Cork, don't you?

[ChairmanMiah]

I don't imagine it, I actually do it. It's grand altogether. (Well, I don't actually cycle up Strawberry Hill but I do cycle up the others. Climpy out.)

You just want to blame the Greens for there being hills in Cork, don't you?

Talk about missing the point ...

[Actin The Sham]

I don't imagine it, I actually do it. It's grand altogether. (Well, I don't actually cycle up Strawberry Hill but I do cycle up the others. Climpy out.)

You just want to blame the Greens for there being hills in Cork, don't you?

Not really.

I just want to point out that a party with no elected representative in Cork is now making policy which will impact people in Cork, without any fear of repercussions, or without any local elected representative to explain to Minister Gormley that there is no public transport alternative for thousands and thousands of Cork based commuters. For example if you live in say, Ballygarvan, and work in Little Island how would you go about getting to work?

If you lived in Leixlip and worked in Sandyford you can get a Dublin bus service. Here once you go outside Togher, Bishopstown, Douglas, or Mayfield you are totally dependent on what we affectionately refer to as "the country bus service," not to mention the lack of luas, dart, real suburban light rail networks, (although they did announce yet again the re-opening of the Cork Midleton line in the budget last week), so on planet Gormley the people of Cork do not exist.

And there are no cycle lanes of any consequence in the North Side of Cork City. There are protests in Dublin today because Dublin Bus won't go into UCD after 8:30 PM anymore because of students causing trouble on buses there. Now the students union in UCD is complaining because they have to "walk to the main road with heavy bags."

:rolleyes:

[ChairmanMiah]

Not really.

... There are protests in Dublin today because Dublin Bus won't go into UCD after 8:30 PM anymore because of students causing trouble on buses there. Now the students union in UCD is complaining because they have to "walk to the main road with heavy bags."

:rolleyes:

Think ATS hit the nail on the head there. Good to see Dan Boyle really battling for Cork now he's in the Seanad :rolleyes:

BTW - We could get all those kids who'll lose their disability allowance and get them to carry UCD's students' bags ... they have to work from now on and justify their existence in Ireland Inc.

[Ciotóg]

Talk about missing the point ...
Thanks.

Not really.

I just want to point out that a party with no elected representative in Cork is now making policy which will impact people in Cork, without any fear of repercussions, or without any local elected representative to explain to Minister Gormley that there is no public transport alternative for thousands and thousands of Cork based commuters. For example if you live in say, Ballygarvan, and work in Little Island how would you go about getting to work?

If you lived in Leixlip and worked in Sandyford you can get a Dublin bus service. Here once you go outside Togher, Bishopstown, Douglas, or Mayfield you are totally dependent on what we affectionately refer to as "the country bus service," not to mention the lack of luas, dart, real suburban light rail networks, (although they did announce yet again the re-opening of the Cork Midleton line in the budget last week), so on planet Gormley the people of Cork do not exist.

And there are no cycle lanes of any consequence in the North Side of Cork City. There are protests in Dublin today because Dublin Bus won't go into UCD after 8:30 PM anymore because of students causing trouble on buses there. Now the students union in UCD is complaining because they have to "walk to the main road with heavy bags."

:rolleyes:
Ah, I know and I agree with you.

I'm just pointing out that cycling, given the size of Cork city and its immediate suburbs, is an option that most people dismiss out of hand as "ah sure the roads are too narrow and hilly and the weather is too shite and yadda yadda", whereas it's nothing as bad as all that in reality. I've saved myself thousands of car-miles over the years by hopping on the bike for trips around town, and have rarely get wet and never knocked down - simple. People expect the government to do everything for them.

That said, the bike grant and employers' car parking levy thingies in the budget sounded like silly pandering to the Greens.

[Lamps]

The greens have a great opportunity to pull the plug on this govt and save their political future. I hope they take it

[Langer Dan]

The greens have a great opportunity to pull the plug on this govt and save their political future. I hope they take it

True, if Gormless doesn't have the political foresight to see that they will be wiped out in the next election otherwise then they deserve everything they get....

[Lamps]

True, if Gormless doesn't have the political foresight to see that they will be wiped out in the next election otherwise then they deserve everything they get....

I voted Green, and this would be my line of thinking

[ChairmanMiah]

Hopefully ... :rolleyes:

But Sven Gormley Eriksson has so far being very quiet on many aspects of the budget ... except his own carbon ideas ... the smell of ministerial car-seat leather can be very intoxicating ... ;)