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

-----because there is no traffic passing those doors now and you know it as well as I do, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. You are a man with your feet firmly on the ground and you know every single part of the constituency you represent as well as I know mine. You know that your area also has been affected by what we call rural decline. What are we, as legislators, doing here tonight? Are we doing anything to halt rural decline? We are not. Are we doing anything to assist people living in rural areas? We are not. Are the consequences of tonight going to hurt the future of rural Ireland? Yes they are. Who is there to shout "stop" or to say we must have a vote on this? I think the last time there were six people who stood up. Out of all the legislators in here it worried six people enough that they thought they had better stand up and try to do something. Are we not very weak up against the Minister? The only thing about it is that we are passionate about what we believe in.

I believe that it is the same as the closure of the rural rail network. I would not dare name people who have gone to their eternal reward but at that time there were politicians who proposed that it was a good idea and a sensible thing to do away with the rural rail network. I will give an example. From the great town of Killarney going out through Killorglin, on out by Mountain Stage and down into Cahirciveen, we had a train. Going out of Killarney through Kilgarvan on into Kenmare we had a train. If we had those trains today, it would change the way business is conducted in those towns. It would be financially viable to have a business operating because with goods inwards and goods outwards, rather than the expensive route of going on roads that are overburdened already by lorries and traffic, we could have them coming and going on the rail network. If we had a train going down to Cahirciveen it would blind the Orient Express any day of the week because of the simple fact of the beauty of the area. People would come from all over the world to see it. If they were travelling along that area on a train looking out onto the sea they would say, "my God, we are going to paradise". I mean that and I believe it in my heart and soul but politicians in this House thought it was a good idea - short-sightedness - to close it down.

Why am I comparing this with all those years ago and those politicians? God be good to them they are gone, but they made a mistake. I believe they made a mistake. I believe that the Deputies who will not stand up here tonight against the Minister's proposals are making a mistake. Time will prove who is right and who is wrong. Being a politician and being serious about it means having to look to the future. We have to see around turns and time will tell that what is happening here is wrong.

It comes back to what I said earlier on about people using their discretion. We had gardaí who used their discretion. We had people in positions of authority who sized up a situation and made up their minds about what was right and what was wrong. The trouble nowadays is that everything is about books and papers, filling up forms and dotting i's and crossing t's. We are so blinded by legislation and by people being politically correct that we are losing sight of our real values, namely, people. When I think of legislation and of changes - I am not even talking about the Minister, Deputy Ross - it is so easy for a Minister to come along and say he thinks such a thing is a good idea. However, we must think of the knock-on consequences and what it will mean to people living in their own communities. It can devastate communities. If we look at decisions that were taken in the past, for instance with regard to people in our fishing communities, we sold out our fishermen and what did they get in return? Nothing.

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