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

It is a scandal. The man does not have a car and has to travel 19 miles to be seen every week. He must thumb for a lift on a national primary route as he cannot cycle that distance to the office. He is hoping someone can drive him in and out of the town in question. He is in receipt of €100 per week. It appears to me that Turas Nua wants to keep him going to the office so that he will get fed up, lie down at home and forget about the €100 payment. The system is very unfair and is leaving a sour taste in the mouth of a young person who is trying to survive until he gets a job. That carry-on should not be entertained.

I must again refer to school buses, which are very important in rural Ireland. When local schools in rural areas were closed years ago, people were promised they would always have transport to central schools. That is not the case. The Department of Education and Skills has reneged on that promise. It is imposing clauses, such as the requirement that ten children must travel on a bus for a route to operate. That is not possible in rural Ireland today. If ten children do not avail of the service, the service is not provided. Fair play is required as people in rural Ireland are as entitled to go to school as those in built-up areas. They have been denied this right because assurances and promises were given in the past that they would always have transport to central schools. That is not happening and I want the Minister to address the matter.

There is a lot of discussion about housing and the lack thereof. If the Government is serious about building social housing it will have to do something about the regulations that are being set for local authorities by the Department. It is now the case that no one will sign off on anything because they are scared they will lose their jobs. In County Kerry, three rural cottages were built in the past eight years. We hope to build 22 in Killarney this year. This issue has been ongoing since 2014 but rules and regulations are set by the Department and unless the Government gets stuck in and sorts out the problem, no houses will be built in Kerry, Dublin or anywhere else.

The rules that have been set by the Department cannot be complied with by local authorities. The Government needs to get down to brass tacks and sort this out. These are big problems but the Government is not attending to them.

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