Results 1-10 of 10 for rural transport segment:6976666

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Eamon Ryan: I understand what my rural colleagues are saying when they talk about the difficulty posed by rural isolation. There is no doubting that it is an issue. In introducing these measures we have to listen to what they are saying and recognise that we have a real problem, particularly in the case of older people and those who do not have huge social outlets. We have to consider how we will...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Eamon Ryan: ...Road safety is an issue that affects all of us and on which there is no political divide. I campaigned on cycling safety for many years - I still do I suppose - and I was involved in the Dublin Transportation Authority. I have, therefore, a particular and direct experience of the need to make continuous changes to deliver further reductions in the number of road traffic fatalities. The...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Danny Healy-Rae: I sympathise with all the families who have lost loved ones due to drink-driving. I do not condone and never will condone drink-driving but I support the right of people right around rural Ireland to have a pint and a half and not lose their licence because of that. I travelled for four hours this morning to get here from Kilgarvan and it will be the same journey back. I would travel much...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy: ...about the many young people who would not dream of taking alcohol and driving at the same time. This is to be welcomed. They come up with their own solutions to it, particularly those who live in rural areas, and I very much welcome that. This legislation has opened up a debate on rural isolation that is very welcome. In 1999, I ran for the local authority, which was my first foray...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Seán Canney: I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Bill introduced by my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross. I acknowledge that excessive drinking and drink-driving should not be tolerated. Too many people have lost their lives as a result of it and too many families have been left devastated by it. I meet people who have lost loved ones as a result of...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Kevin O'Keeffe: It is reduced already. I had better watch it so. The Minister cannot make the analogy that those in rural Ireland are careless on the roads. We are not. We also have the problem, as I mentioned earlier, of bad roads and dangerous junctions. All such difficulties cause crashes. I accept I am starting to repeat myself but I want to keep this alive. I would ask that the Minister...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Kevin O'Keeffe: ...the scientific evidence". I will not go into the whole document unless I decide to filibuster, but that is simply an example of where someone says that we are going over the top again. I come from rural Ireland. In recent years, I have seen how the original drink driving proposals have had an effect. We have seen many pubs close already. People have stopped going to them. I have...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Kevin O'Keeffe: The damage has been done already with the proposals of the Minister, Deputy Ross. He has put the fear of life into rural Ireland already. I wish to speak against the proposed Bill. Approximately 12 months ago we had a spike in road fatalities in this country. What followed was a knee-jerk reaction from the Minister, Deputy Ross, pointing the finger straight away at drink driving. Both he...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Catherine Murphy: I am a member of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport which discussed this Bill. The sanction, rather than the limit, is being changed in the Bill, but we all know that it is no small deal to put someone off the road. Therefore, there has to be a good reason to do it. The committee considered a Road Safety Authority document, but we then invited representatives to discuss it...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Dec 2017)

Michael Collins: ...the first two children but none to the third child through child benefit. The question asked at the time was what had the third child ever done to the Minister in school. What did the people of rural Ireland ever do to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport that he feels the need to bring forward this Bill? Perhaps he has no idea of the hurt this is causing in rural Ireland, but...