Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill regarding the use of electric scooters by the public as a form of transport. I am fully in favour of this. My belief is it will end up being over-regulated, like many matters that go through the Dáil, with people having to insure and tax them and every sort of thing. We must ease up and use a bit of common sense here in future.

Unfortunately, scooters will be of no benefit to areas of west Cork where the road system is not fit for cars, let alone electric scooters. The people of west Cork are blue in the face from repairing their cars from damage by potholes. I counted 11 punctures one morning in Bandon in the space of an hour and a half. I am afraid there will be no room for scooters in west Cork. No matter what legislation is brought before us here, that is important to the people there.

There are no cycle lanes to speak of in any of the towns in west Cork where an electric scooter could be used. Many of the roads do not have adequate markings or cat's eyes, which becomes especially evident coming into the long winter nights.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport's Road Traffic Act has destroyed rural Ireland. If any politician tells me differently, he or she is completely out of touch with their constituents. An e-scooter will not work on roads in Baltimore, Union Hall, Castletownshend, Castletownbere, Allihies, Eyeries, Ardgroom, Mizen Head, Sheep's Head, Ballinadee, Timoleague or Kilbrittain.

While the Government announced recently a new Local Link bus service by night, looking at the front of one of the national newspapers, The Examiner, it was as if the whole of Cork was being sorted out whereas it is only Adrigole. There is nothing wrong with sorting Adrigole out because it is in my own constituency, but if that is the best effort the Government can make in the largest county in Ireland, there is something very seriously wrong. That is not resolving the issue of the complete mess the Government made with the Road Traffic Act. Unfortunately, we will not be able to use scooters to take people home in the night. The Government left people in very difficult circumstances.

The Government has no vision for rural areas. The only consultation is consultation on scooters. Even at the level of people wanting to go to the local test centre, I have been reliably informed this evening that a person can sit a category C test for big trucks, but if he or she wants a category D test for big buses, that person must go to Tralee or Cork city. It is a kick in the teeth to people in rural Ireland. Licences are badly needed for the big buses.

In my estimation, the Minister, Deputy Ross, is one of the worst Ministers ever in this country. He has not had the decency to face the people here in the Dáil. We do not see the Minister. We assume Deputy Ross is the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Deputy Griffin is the junior Minister. In fairness, he has often been here. I give credit where credit is due. Under Deputy Ross's brief, we would love to see funding allocated for the roads in Bandon and for bypasses. The southern relief road bypass is incomplete. The northern relief road might be only half complete. An Inishannon bypass is not even being considered.

On e-scooters, the House might be over-regulating them. We must be careful here.

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