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

There is a lot of talk about operating these services at night. Rural Ireland is different from Dublin and many other places, including Cork city. In the mornings we do not have Luas, DART or bus services to transport us to work. There are many people who are isolated at the moment. They cannot even go to pubs anymore because many have closed already. People cannot have a social drink at home tonight in rural Ireland, because if they are going to work tomorrow morning, they will be held up at various places. The living daylights are frightened out of people. What service are we going to provide for them? Has anyone spoken about providing a service to help people to get to work? People will manage to go to the pub sometimes, with great difficulty, but the morning after, after they have done everything right the night before, they are still being held up at the crossroads. Who gave the order that morning checks were to be carried out? It is a fact that people in rural Ireland are frightened. They are like rabbits in a hole, afraid to come out in case the fox or the dog might catch them. They are terrorised in their homes. They cannot have a social drink, as they could before. I knew this would happen before it happened, because I meet people on a 24 hour basis seven days a week. This has manifested itself in the constituencies of Deputies from other parties, including the main Government party. It is clear that this is a big issue in rural Ireland. How are we going to deal with the people who are affected by these morning checks? Is there any proposal to provide a transport service for them? Has any direction been given in that regard? Perhaps it is not part of the discussion we are having today, but what is going to happen to provisional drivers who cannot get to work or college and whose parents cannot be with them? They are waiting between 20 and 25 weeks for a test. Is there any mention of a transport service for those people?