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

I have submitted amendments to the Bill, as have Deputies Troy and Danny Healy-Rae. If he reads them, the Minister will see that they contain many common-sense proposals. There is also compromise in the amendments tabled. We should be clear on one aspect.

The reason these amendments have been submitted is that in parts of rural Ireland the nearest taxi service is 15 miles or 20 km away. There is no rural bus but people need transport to get from A to B. The amendments refer to certain things that are required to save people's lives, the first of which is good roads. We are all aware that funding for rural roads has increased in the last two years by between 4% and 8% but it is still below what it was in 2008 under the last Fianna Fáil-led Government. Funding for such roads in Galway went down from €40 million to €19 million, which was a drastic cut. Whether one is a young driver or an elderly driver, one needs a proper road. There are potholes like craters on some rural roads and one would nearly lose a car in some of them but the Government does not seem to want to address that problem. That may be because it wants to get into people's heads and make them think that it has solved another problem but the fact is that if we do not have proper roads there will be major problems, regardless of whether people drink. That is chronic and it is not confined to the west of Ireland. It applies to all of Ireland. I have seen parts of Meath and God help the people who were trying to come out the roads up there. Of course, if the Government diverts attention away from that it is easier because addressing it costs money. It costs the Government money in a budget.

I notice that a few of the Minister's comrades were rolled out in recent days to attack individuals. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion and people can say what they want but if we brought drink down to zero right across Ireland this minute, what difference would it make? This Government and the previous one watched over a reduction in the traffic corps from 1,070 gardaí down to fewer than 600. Whoever did that is the terrorist, not those who were called such today. That decision was made for financial reasons. The previous Government had a massive majority and I was here for 14 months of that Dáil. Legislation was guillotined and rushed through this House in two hours. It was an awful pity that the head of the RSA did not get her Bill together at the time instead of coming out and criticising people during the week. They had the opportunity to do it.

At a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport, I put forward proposals relating to young drivers and members from all sides agreed with me. I proposed that speed limiters would be put on their vehicles. The Minister might not understand lorries but those of us from the country understand them. If one is driving a lorry, there is a limiter on it and one can fix that limiter to whatever speed one wants. If the limiter is set at 30 km/h or 40 km/h, the engine will cut out above that speed. That would have been a solution or a step forward in terms of enabling youngsters to get insurance at a price they can afford.

Before introducing legislation with which people in rural parts of Ireland disagree, one needs to take proactive steps to make sure that people can live and survive. It is fine for those who have the DART, Luas and taxis available 24 hours a day. There used to be a programme on the television called "Come Live With Me". The Minister should come and live down the country and he will see the situation. A lot of mothers and fathers have youngsters going to college. Those in the south might be going to Cork or Kerry, those in the east might be going to Dublin, those in the midlands might be going to Athlone, those in the north might go to Letterkenny or Sligo and in the west, they might go to Castlebar, Galway or Limerick. The average wage for a farmer is €18,000 per year, which means that many are not able to pay €6,000 to €8,000 for accommodation for their youngsters. They are trying to make things better for them and some of them put their children on their insurance as a named driver.

When I was a youngster, we learned to drive in the fields. We had fields in rural Ireland and in summer time we put posts or cones in the field and learned how to drive. In that way, before we ever hit the road, we were well able to drive. It is not politically correct to say that anymore in this world. One is not supposed to be doing things like that but that is the reality. That is how most youngsters in rural Ireland learn how to drive and then, when they get their lessons, they have a feel for it. As they say down the country, they have "a feel for a yoke" and know how to handle it. People do not understand that.

There are compromises in what Deputy Troy has proposed in terms of increasing fines and penalty points. The Rural Independent group has also put forward compromises. Indeed, what I have put forward myself contains compromises to make sure that things are made better while not crucifying the people. When I talk about a compromise, I note that the State is good at making laws but is a youngster entitled to a test within six weeks? If the State has an obligation to provide that, in black and white, it cannot back out of that obligation. Unfortunately, however, there are parts of the country where the waiting time for a driving test is between four and six months. All one will hear from the people in charge is that they will recruit more testers. Where are the testers and why have they not been recruited? The reason is that they have to go through a process and it takes a good while.

Of course, we decide that we will introduce the laws before we solve the problems. Was there any bit of thinking by the Minister for Finance that before introducing this legislation publicans would be given a rebate on the duty paid on a car or a minibus? Was there any thinking about that, to try to go a step of the way in terms of helping? I heard this great brainwave out of the Government, that it was going to provide 35 buses around the country. There are 5,000 km of back roads and byroads in Galway. If one was to go around the villages between 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. to bring people to the different towns, villages or local pubs, one would not get to them all even if one was driving at the speed limit but the Government talks about 35 buses across Ireland. Whoever suggested that was not much of a mathematician.

9 o’clock

In my opinion, gardaí are the secret to making sure roads are safe. It costs money to deploy gardaí, patrol cars and everything that goes with them. Unfortunately, people who have lost someone belonging to them are thinking tonight that this measure will solve something. It is a sad thing to say, but my belief is that the limit can be reduced to zero and it will not make a difference unless Garda numbers are increased again. The Government is getting inside people's heads to make sure they believe something will be solved even though it will not. We expect to have safer roads even though the number of traffic corps gardaí has decreased by almost 50%. They are good people, but with the best will in the world there is not a hope they can do what they are supposed to do.

During the week, people were rolled out to hit those of us who are going through the democratic process. They did so by suggesting that this legislation is being filibustered. I am sure that as a public representative, I am as entitled as anyone else who has been elected to this House to table amendments and speak on any legislation, such as the Bill we were debating before we moved onto this Bill. If the Government is seriously concerned about this issue, why did it leave the Minister, Deputy Ross, in the lurch for nine months? He was not allowed to come near this issue in the absence of any commitment from the Government. Some people do not want to see that. When this legislation was introduced, it was made known to us that further sections would have to be added to it, which meant there would have to be a recommittal. It might be no harm for that to be acknowledged.

I would like to speak about the big problem that ordinary folk out there see with the Government. People never mind change as long as the path is resolved ahead of it. In this House, we are mighty at bringing in rules but we are very poor at bringing in solutions. We do not seem to want to solve things. What are we going to say to the youngsters on apprenticeships about whom Deputy Danny Healy-Rae spoke? How will we make sure people on low incomes are catered for? We will hear the usual palaver to the effect that they can get grants. They can get grants if they are eligible - for sure - but they will have to wait from September to Christmas for payments to be made. That is the first thing. They will have to live on fresh air for a while. The second thing is the cost of accommodation for youngsters whose parents are trying to make sure they get a better life.

As I have said previously, I am all for youngsters being able to do intensive weekend or two-day courses in places like Mondello Park and get certificates when they are finished. There could be a place in the north, a place in the south, a place in Munster, a place in the west and a place in Ulster. I could go out on a road this minute with a digger and swing it around as long as I had done a one-day course. Cars could go up and down by me and it would be fine, as long as I had done a full weekend and someone had said I was fit to drive it. I am not talking about going out in a vehicle like this without being fit to drive it and doing lessons. Why are we trying to make criminals out of young people and their fathers and mothers? Do we take pleasure in telling people who are struggling that we will bang them up? To be honest, I do not take pleasure in doing that.

See this speech in context