The Government's handling of the fuel price issue has been appalling. It refused to listen to the Opposition. Week after week we told it what was happening. It refused to listen to the representatives of the various sectors and various bodies. I wrote to the Tánaiste in March and told him that people I had met were running at a loss and could not continue to operate as things stood. Instead, the Government threatens ordinary working people who are trying to make a living. In Laois, it was not the far right. There was no far right involvement. It was ordinary, hard-working people who work 60 or 70 hours per week. The Government only moved to put supports in place when the protests escalated. Then it was threatened that the army would be brought in. For what? For one Army truck to move pallets that could have been moved with a Massey Ferguson 35 with a front loader on it. There was a big hoo-ha about the Army. We thought we were going to see the Army on the streets.

Sentiment score: -0.15

Instead of listening and working towards a solution with people-----

Sentiment score: 0.32

-----the Government threatened them, which was wrong-----

Sentiment score: -0.46

-----and left people out. I will be voting no confidence in the Government.

Sentiment score: 0.14