Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I have the Farrelly report here and it is shocking. The Garda did not check for past convictions when granting a HGV licence and awarded a licence to a notorious drug dealer. It was an appalling situation. Has it been remedied? Is the new regulation in effect? Does that mean people with convictions for murder, manslaughter, drug trafficking and sexual offences will not be allowed a licence for such a vehicle?

On foot of that, have we checked to see if we have missed any other grants of licences like this? My colleagues, Deputies Rabbitte and Costello, repeatedly asked for information on this matter in this House and were stymied. The situation was allowed to continue until the Government was finally forced to take action thanks to this valuable report.

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