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

The Minister will allow me the opportunity to give him the chance to explain to the people who desperately want to know what is going to happen to people who need to sit their driving tests. People want to get a full licence. Nurses are going to work on the front line every day and have not seen their families for weeks or months. They are in an awful position whereby they have to get to work but do not have a full licence and cannot have anybody in a car with them. Can the Minister shine some light on this? A frightening number of people have contacted me about this, and I am only one person. I am sure everybody else is in the exact same position. Can the Minister provide some clarity on the issue?

With regard to aviation, I too have been contacted by many hardworking people who have lost their jobs or whose jobs are in jeopardy. The Minister referred to the medical advice and guidance we have been given. Nobody is saying we should throw that out of the window, and I am not saying that for one minute. However, can we have a balance between protecting people and not wasting the sacrifices that have been made, while trying to protect the jobs which are so important and on which thousands of people are relying?

I know the Minister will not blame me for raising with him the importance of sports capital grants. I know he will not blame me for saying that on the record of the Dáil because he, more than anybody else, should know how valuable it is to have those grants continue into the future. I would appreciate an answer on driving licences, in particular.

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