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

I want to hope that the Minister will listen to the voices of reason, to people who calmly try to point out that there is more to road safety and saving lives than what he is concentrating on. Why not consider all the other issues that have been raised during these debates, which have gone on but rightly so? What the Minister is hoping to do will change things forever in rural Ireland which has been hit hard enough for long enough. Each person can speak only for their own area. I have seen the accidents that have happened over the years and have known the cause of many of them. In many cases the truth of what happens goes unreported. It seems to be grabbing headlines that the Minister's solution will fix everything on our roads. That is so wrong.

I would like to see the Minister tackle issues that I and others have raised tonight, and will continue to raise. He should be looking at a bigger picture and not concentrating on what he is doing at present. The Minister is probably burnt out from this but the hardship he is about to impose will never be underestimated. Like any rule or regulation, once it comes in, if it comes in, it will be very hard to reverse. It will make our place more unattractive for our young people. Where I am from we have lost many people who left because there was no work for them. They went to England, Australia, America and other parts of Europe. I would give my back teeth to see those people here again. Unfortunately, however, they have started new lives and now we might also lose the next generation. It is sad that grandparents and potential grandparents will not have their grandchildren growing up here.

The Minister is ensuring that young people starting out will say to hell with this, if they are from a country area, living with their parents and see that they cannot travel to work, will not be allowed on the road, cannot sit their driving test and get their full licence, and they will decide to chance their arm in Australia for a few months. If they do that they might never come back. This could have the knock-on effect of robbing us of more people who we want to keep in our countryside, in Ireland. They are the taxpayers, politicians and teachers of the future. They are the people we will rely on. We are only on a wheel, we will not be here forever. All I want is to see those people here to replace every one of us, myself and the Minister included. They will not be there if the Minister is going to hunt them, which is exactly what will happen. It is wrong and unfair.

I ask the Minister to please look at this again and take on board the opinions I have given him in a cool, calm and reasoned way. I speak on behalf of many people. I would not mislead the Minister, as he knows in his heart and soul. Many people are talking about this and are upset about it. They believe the Minister is misguided in what he is trying to do. They are not nasty about it and I am not nasty about it, as the Minister knows. I am being very reasonable and pleading with him. He has the power, as Minister, and I plead with him to look at this again and not to discourage our young people from living here, not to criminalise their hard working parents, not to tie them up in more red tape and bureaucracy and laws, all in the interest of road safety when we all know it will not lead to our roads being safer. There is so much other work that can be done on our roads to make them safer. For instance, one of the most basic things that could be done tomorrow morning would be to tell every local authority to keep water off the roads and keep hedges cut on narrow country roads. Does the Minister realise how many accidents and injuries that would prevent?

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