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

The people having the two or three drinks in rural Ireland did not cause the fatalities. The statistics for this year prove that in spite of the new law accidents and fatalities have increased. It is not the people in rural Ireland who have caused that. I ask again that the Government to probe the idea that the Garda would give permits to people who are rurally isolated for class three and cul-de-sac roads and if they stray outside those roads to nail them then. It would be for these roads only, not the regional roads or national primary roads. Despite what the Tánaiste says, people do have their heads down. They are socially deprived as the only outlet they had was the local pub. More pubs closed down in the past eight years than under the previous 30 Governments since the foundation of the State. It has closed down Bord na Móna and told its workers it would give them green jobs. The only green they will see is if the door on the dole office is painted green. The Government is only trying to cod them and fool them, but they will not fool the people. The election is coming and the Tánaiste will have to face the doors of the people the Government has trapped in their homes.

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