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

I do not know why I should be called a terrorist when I only represent the people of Kerry who elected me and my brother to this House. The Minister could just as well be calling those people terrorists as well. The Minister has thrown a lot of things at me in this debate, such as the accusation that I was fighting this for publicans, but in the course of scoraíochting in Kerry, people went to each other's house to visit and break the monotony of their lives. Nowadays, they have to drive because their neighbours are further away and the closer neighbours have left or emigrated. Rural Ireland was badly hit in the 1950s but in recent times it has been hit much worse. People drive to each other's houses but they cannot even have one drink now because they cannot be sure they will be under the limit and they will be afraid of losing their licence. The one bit of recreation they had, which was to go to neighbours' houses, will be lost. It is not about publicans but about loneliness and having something to do in rural places, where they do not have theatres, cinemas, basketball courts or gyms. They will now be totally isolated and will have to listen to the radio, because there is not much to watch on the television nowadays.

Deputy Troy asked why we were being scapegoated. In Northern Ireland one can legally drive with less than 80 mg, and the same is true in England. There is a lot of talk about a hard or soft Border but we are only one field away from Northern Ireland in many parts of the Twenty-six Counties.

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We will have a less severe rule in the North and a more severe rule in the South. In France, a person who is found to have between 50 mg and 80 mg of alcohol per 100 mg of blood will only be fined.

In the debacle around breath tests we learned that numbers had been doubled and trebled, such that nobody knows the true number of breath tests conducted. We also can no longer trust the figures being provided by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The Minister mentioned that there were 36 fatalities between 2008 and 2012 which were in the 20 mg to 80 mg bracket, of which 19 were in the 20 mg to 50 mg bracket. As such, the Minister's argument does not make sense. I asked for a breakdown of those 36 fatalities to include if the accident was caused by a drunk pedestrian walking along the road who had fallen onto the road in front of the car; a person who had had two glasses of lager or Guinness and was driving on their own side of the road meeting another driver with no alcohol who was speeding, lost control of a car and crashed into the person's car and maybe killed himself and his wife. I got no answer to those questions. I also asked if among those 36 fatalities was a young fella who had one pint after work who met black ice on the way home and hit a bridge to which I also got no answer. I oppose drunk driving but I honestly believe that a person with a pint and a half or 50 mg to 80 mg of alcohol is not a drunk driver.

I note Fine Gael is supporting the Bill. It is supporting the Minister for his support for Government to make up the numbers. I regret this because I know so many Fine Gael Deputies enjoy the support of people in rural Ireland who will be hurt by this Bill. If this Bill would reduce accidents or fatalities I would be behind it too but I do not believe it will. In the city of Dublin, there are many modes of transport, including taxis, the DART service, buses and trains. A person with his or her thumb up in Gearhasallagh, the Black Valley or Lauragh would be waiting a long time and no bus or taxi will come. He or she could not phone for a taxi because there is no coverage in most of those parts. The Minister is welcome to Kerry any time but if he does come he should not try thumbing a lift around the Incheese because he could be there from May to November and no car would come along. The Minister would be fairly cold and would still not have got a drive.

It must be realised that this will have a serious, detrimental impact on people who lose their licence as it is so hard to get it back. They will lose their insurance, and may never get it back. I appeal to the Minister and the Government. I know many members of Fianna Fáil do not support the Minister but I do not know what the Fianna Fáil leadership is saying or doing. Many fine Fianna Fáil members oppose what the Minister is doing but we do not know what way they will vote. I will be voting against this Bill. Many of the people about whom I am speaking would vote against if as well if permitted to do so.

The Minister is so anxious about this Bill that he broke every rule in the book when he came in here one day, sitting in the second row, reached forward and pressed the voting button of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, and he got away with it. Had I or Deputy Michael Healy-Rae done that we would be on every news programme in the world about what kind of criminals we were, but the Minister, because he is Minister Ross, got away with it. Whatever happens with this Bill, we will continue to go after Deputy Ross because that was illegal. Regardless of whether he is a Minister or Lord Ross or whatever he is called, in doing that he broke every rule in the book.

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