Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not really. It is all applicable. We need more hackney licences in rural Ireland. They must be allowed to pick up people. We tried to introduce the Ring a Link service. Some smart alecs tried to call it the drink a link service. We wanted to help people to socialise at Christmas and other times. However, it did not work for various reasons. The Minister of State is aware that young people from rural areas who go to town to socialise at weekends cannot get a taxi until between 3 and 6 in the morning. That is not fair. We tried to get involved. I appeal to the Minister of State to examine the provision of more hackney licences and to develop a programme for rural hackneys. We have support from community organisations such as Muintir na Tíre, development associations and local businesses. They make the point that villages will die if people cannot travel. There is an incorrect assumption that people only want to travel from villages and rural areas to town, but many people who live in towns want to go out of town for social events or to visit a grave or their family or home place. It works both ways. Ireland does not end at the Pale. There is a lot of this country outside the Pale and it is time the Government and the officials woke up to that. The country does not end at Newlands Cross. It goes a long way further.

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