Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is another attack on rural Ireland. It has been drawn up by the Road Safety Authority, as I understand it, working together with the Minister. I have dealt with some of the Minister's officials on other issues and I must compliment them on that. I listened to the radio today on my way here, and I heard about people who are running men's sheds around the country which are struggling for funding. The men's sheds might have offered people some hope, but with this Bill they will be unable to get to them. They have nowhere to go now. Deputies have been throwing mud at people across the floor of this House. We all sympathise with people who have lost their lives on the roads, but the statistics show that many of the drivers in question were two, three or four times over the limit. The statistics speak for themselves.

It is sad to say, to a person who is supposed to be an Independent Deputy as well as a Minister, that the Minister has single-handedly achieved this over the last two years. The workers in rural Ireland will be moving on, because while there might be cranes almost hitting each other in Dublin, there are no cranes to be seen in the skies of rural Ireland. In my part of the world, and in the places the Deputies across the floor of the House come from, the options for people are the boat or the plane. That is the scenario in parts of rural Ireland. We hear of an upswing, and in parts of the country that is true. However, pubs are closing. There was a so-called deal for postmasters, where the Government did not force them to close but left them with very little choice, and which pinpointed who is going to get the money to buy out the post offices. Neighbours and the community will blame the postmaster for leaving in that situation, while some post offices outside that scheme will continue to operate. It is cute-hoorism and good PR. The people have been sold a pup once more. The Irish Postmasters' Union, IPU, is also being sold a pup.

There is a real problem with health across Ireland. One might hear people giving out about the HSE, among other things, but for some reason, whatever type of magic he is able to conjure, the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, is able to avoid the criticism. However, we hear it day in and day out about the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and what he is doing to rural Ireland. It is easy in Dublin to get a bus until at least 12 o'clock at night, or a taxi at any hour of the night. There are not too many taxis around on the byroads of rural Ireland. A kite was flown in the media that the Government might give a rebate on the vehicle road tax to publicans to make them feel good. Another kite was flown then which suggested that 33 or 35 buses would be provided. That would not even provide a bus for every council area, when one considers that there are parts of Dublin that are rural as well. This will amount to nothing but promises; the legislation will go through and that will be the end of it.

In parts of rural Ireland there are daycare centres for people who suffer from mental illness which are being closed. There is a constant pressure on such resources. I have just come from the Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development, where the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring, was speaking. In fairness to him, Deputy Ring has probably the smallest budget and is looking after the biggest part of the country. He listened to us. He is anxious to get more money.

Deputy Michael Collins pointed out that the roads are in a terrible state at the moment. How many accidents are caused by the state of our roads? Has more funding gone into fixing the problem? A few percent every year, perhaps. Most councils have 40% less funding now than they had in 2008 or 2009. Accidents are happening because of the state of our roads, but nothing is being done about it. There is a Bill with the Department seeking to help parts of Galway which were damaged by the storm. It caused damage to the seashore and flooding problems. The people there have received no money. It is fine to talk about it, but the attitude seems to be that those people should be left out because they are out in the sticks and do not matter. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport would not be too bothered if those people fell into the sea. Rural Ireland seems to be neglected.

People earn less than the average industrial wage in rural Ireland. Farmers earn €18,000 to €20,000. I am not saying that people need to be earning mega money to live in rural Ireland; it is obviously cheaper to build a house there. These people, however, are struggling. When they have families they try to provide education for their children to ensure that Ireland will be a better place and that their children will have a better life.

They cannot afford the €9,000 that I heard one college campus is increasing it to. They cannot afford to have the luxuries that some have. The get-out on that was that these people decided to buy a car for their children and they tried to insure it at an astronomical rate.

When they talked about accidents and young people, I proposed something that would solve much of that but neither the RSA nor anybody else would listen. Anyone who is familiar with lorries and has driven them over the years would know they have what is called a "speedo" which regulates the speed the driver can go. I wanted them to give those youngsters the opportunity to get insurance at the same rate as anybody else but to put a restriction on the speed they could drive at which would make it safer both for them and for other road users. If one talks to mechanics about the new types of cars, they will say this can be done through the computer to ensure the facility is available. However, we are not bothered about that. It might be trouble and would not be a good thing to bring down the cost of their insurance, I suppose. Therefore, the best thing we can do is crucify their mothers and fathers who bought that little car and taxed and insured it. We tell them that if the youngster is caught on the road, we will confiscate the car and the owner will be banged up for a while. Make a criminal out of them - that is the stuff. That is the way to treat Irish people, the good, decent people who work, have a normal life, do not break laws, do the best they can and try to rear youngsters and give them a better life then they had. However, every step of the way, we try to put a wall in front of them, we try to make sure we make bigger criminals out of them than the people who are criminals.

It is a sad Ireland when we look at some of the stuff that is coming in and the way we are heading. It makes me wonder at times where we are going as a country. Those youngsters are going to college. From where I live they can go to Athlone college. Is there a bus? No, there is not. Is there accommodation? No, there is not. Mammy and daddy, as well as trying to survive, will have to drive them up and down the road. The sad part is that when people look at rural Ireland, they will say there is a bus from Athlone to Roscommon, and one to Ballinasloe. However, is there one going to Creggs, Ballymoe, Athleague or places like that? No. It is the same in the south. These youngsters do not fly so someone has to pick them up. An understanding is required of the problems and obstacles put in front of people living in those areas.

Do we deprive these youngsters of an education? Through blood, sweat and tears their mothers and fathers will do everything they can for them, although, my God, the State is trying to make sure they will have to do what their predecessors did in many parts, in particular the west, that is, take the plane or the boat and go. Are we proud of that, as public representatives or as a nation?

I proposed two amendments to the Bill. The State is great at telling people it will bang them up in jail, fine them, confiscate the vehicle and do the devil and all. However, has the State a responsibility for anything? Has the State a responsibility to make sure some youngster who wants a driving test can get one within a minimum of six weeks? If the State is not able to do that, in my opinion the State has failed. I have looked at the records concerning driving testers, which are abysmal. There were parliamentary questions on this issue and the devil and all was going to be done. Was it done? The current statistics show the waiting lists in different parts of the country are phenomenal. Are we going to step back and decide that if we, as a State, are not able to do this, we are not going to crucify someone without giving them a chance?

Another proposal I raised fell on deaf ears. There are places like Mondello Park where a machine driver driving different types of equipment can do an intensive course and get a certificate to ensure the driver is safe and can then do the test after that. A system like that would be too easy. This is the type of thinking outside the box we need. It was the same with the regulations on towing a trailer behind a car. If drivers had the test before a certain date, they could back a trailer anywhere, but if it was after that date, they had to jump into the back of a lorry and press a button 35 times and, afterwards, get so many lessons. On top of that, we had to make sure we robbed people in order to give them a piece of paper for a trailer they had been towing for 20 years before that. That is good, fair thinking. That is a real progressive State.

What signal are we sending to these youngsters? Are we sending them an obstacle course or are we going to give them encouragement? Is there anything wrong with having places in the east, west, north and south of the country where they could go for a two-day intensive course to get them on the road and to make sure they are safe, and then to guarantee them a test within six weeks? However, we do not want to do that. We want to turn them around and tell them that if they are caught on the road, they will not have their licence - we promise them that - daddy and mammy will face a judge and probably end up in the jail and, by the way, they will not have the car either because we will confiscate it, and we will fine them good and heavy. The military state and heavy-handedness - that is the way to bring people forward.

It is a sad thing to say but some of the ways we are going about this are disgusting. The Minister should do this by encouraging people, not by the heavy hand. He should make sure he brings people with him, especially youngsters. I watch them week in, week out, and the way they behave and operate is a credit to them. We should be there to help them and give them every opportunity we can.

As was said earlier in regard to pubs, it all kicks back the following morning. I got a text this morning that the traffic corps was in a certain spot. They are doing their job and I am not saying there is anything wrong with them being there. The problem is that a lot of the understanding is gone. In England if a lorry travelling up one of the motorways has a crack in the spring - the Acting Chairman will know what I am talking about - the driver will be given 14 days to fix it. Here, the law would make sure to put €750 of a problem on top of that, with penalty points and everything else. I can promise that a crack in a spring, with ten leaks, would never do any harm, and I drove them as much as anybody.

8 o’clock

That is the way we have gone. We seem to bring things in without understanding them. I spoke to a person who hauls cattle. They took the commercial vehicle test. Two minor issues arose, but everything else was sound. There was no serious defect. However, because the test had been failed and he had to pick up a load of cattle, he had to rent a low loader in Limerick and spend €700 or €800.

The way we go about this really frustrates me. We need to encourage people. Everyone is for safety. Nobody wants to see anybody getting hurt or killed, but there is a sense of aggression in the way that some measures are brought in. The frustration people experience and the hopelessness in the faces of people who are struggling is what is intolerable about this. Whoever wrote some of this stuff should go out and spend a while in the areas it is affecting. That applies to the quality of the roads too. One needs to live in an area to know its needs, and unfortunately a lot of our Departments are based in the middle of a city. While they might understand the M50 and its problems, and the different roads leading out of Dublin, when one goes north, south east or west it is different.

These people try to make a living. They are part of Ireland. They are part of an economy. Most of them are reliant on driving, for the simple reason that a lot of them drive 40 or 50 miles to work. That is because there is no bus or train. In some of these areas there are not even taxis.

Before sanctions are introduced, in my view, solutions must be brought in to facilitate change. We must try to make sure that people can still do their work and can get from A to B. One of the Deputies who spoke yesterday evening spoke about a young apprentice who had to give up work. A lot of people do not understand the implications of something that stops people from getting to work, because of changes in the rules around learner drivers or because a mother and father are under threat of confiscation of a car, jail or fines. What happens to most of those affected? They have two choices. They can head for Dublin, where they will not get a bed. Or unfortunately, most of them head for London or Canada. Then we read stories years later; we think we are great Irish patriots, celebrating St. Patrick's Day in England and other countries. At the same time, it is us and our generation that might have hounded them all out.

Unfortunately, during the recession we lost 250,000 of them because of bad practices. We are now driving more out, though they are doing their level best. Some of these parents have a mortgage. They are doing their best. They might have one or two children going to college. The Minister knows as well as I do what the fees in the large cities are like. Certainly the likes of Athlone Institute of Technology and Institute of Technology, Sligo have great facilities. There are facilities in Galway and for people living in other parts of the country. It is fine for someone living in Drumcondra. They can shoot up the road. They can nearly walk to college. That is great. However, some of these people are 40 or 50 miles from the nearest places to go to school.

A lot of people are afraid to open their mouth about Bills at this stage. People need to understand that everyone is for safety. Everyone sympathises with anybody that has lost a loved one. However, we need to look at the statistical facts. We need to look at what are the reasons for accidents. We need to know that in the cases of over 60% of people who have accidents, absolutely no drinking was involved. We also need to know that most - I think it is 95% of accidents - are caused by driver error. No-one tolerates that. I am not tolerating that. This started off as one Bill, and like a rolling stone it is gathering bits on the way. A provision about learner drivers has now been thrown into it.

The Minister needs to take a step back and look at where he is going. I fear for the obstacles that are put in front of youngsters in rural parts of Ireland. I will ask the Minister for one thing. I have tabled this request as an amendment. I know the Government is moving an amendment so that cars are not confiscated. I want clarity on something. Does the amendment provide that if the authorities cannot give people a test within six weeks, the car will not be confiscated and the mother and father will not be liable for any prosecution? I have read the amendment that the Government has tabled. I am open to correction, but by my reading it appears only to address the concern about confiscation. I am open to clarification on that. We need to be fair to people. While we are bringing in laws on one side, we need to make sure that on the other side the State meets its obligation to make sure that those people are provided for.

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