Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is not much melody in rural Ireland at the present time. What is being proposed here is absolutely ridiculous. What is being proposed is some additional type of hackney service. There is some ridiculous idea that there will be boundaries and these new vehicles will only operate within a certain boundary. Who is going to be policing these boundaries? If someone wants to go to the doctor or somewhere else altogether, all he or she has to do is go into a pub, go to the toilet and maybe get a glass of water from the poor publican, and he or she can call on this magnificent service to pick him or her up and take him or her home. I have a hackney licence and my father before me had it for 60 years. There are awful strict conditions to it. We are told we can only have a car that is nine years old. I am being advised that there are cars 15 years old being used in this. Who are they going to affect only the poor fella who is regulated and has to jump through so many hoops? If he does not jump through them, the PSV inspector will nail him full stop and he will not be able to carry on. Ministers are suggesting this ridiculous idea to take the pressure off them because they are going around to the doors at present and they only got to know about it since Christmas.