Bus and rail fares have increased by 10 per cent since January 1. That means a monthly return fare from Tralee to Dublin is now €81.50 and a single bus journey from Tallaght to the city centre is €2.20.

Dublin Bus is considering cutting back on services having just bought a fleet of new buses.

Irish Rail is building new track between Dublin and Hazel Hatch and has opened a number of very styling rail stations on their southern line out of Dublin. Was there need for such lavish stations? And as for the new double track, is it now necessary? Could they have eased their capacity problems by introducing reversible running as far as Newbridge. Such a system would have needed new signalling but it would have been far cheaper than the current programme.

Surely an underground to the airport is a madness. Why not build a spur from the Malahide line to the airport?

The rail station at Farranfore is approximately one kilometre from Kerry Airport. There has never been a murmur of building a line right to the door of the airport. Such a project could entice passengers from Cork and Tipperary to use the airport.

Ireland has paid its managers and politicians high salaries. The ten per cent transport increases will have little effect on the top earners.

The line on the Jim Larkin statue in Dublin's O'Connell Street is surely a piece of universal wisdom; "The great seem great because we are on our knees. Let us arise".