Results 1-14 of 14 for rural transport segment:7104974

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Mattie McGrath: ...that service to free up the staff in the county council and elsewhere to deal with housing issues. They said they have been short-staffed since the austerity cutbacks. The then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, said in his reply to me that An Post had submitted a tender for the front office service but was not successful. The other three companies got it. I...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Kevin O'Keeffe: .... The Minister has amnesia. It is not only about the Minister as an Independent Minister. It is relevant for his coalition with the Fine Gael Party. The Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is a former Chairman of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport and oversaw a deliberation. Committee members met but the committee report was...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Declan Breathnach: Like Deputy Rabbitte, I am not on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport. I felt these issues should be left to those on that committee. Listening to the debate tonight, I felt I would be a hypocrite if I did not make a contribution. As someone who takes a drink, I will let the drinker who is without sin cast the first stone. The whole issue here centres on...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Kevin O'Keeffe: The last time I spoke on this Bill was on 8 December 2017. That night, one of the oldest rural pubs in north Cork, the Function Bar, closed. That bar made its living out of people who drove to the pub and had a couple of drinks. They did not pass any other pub. These people have since been left in rural isolation. They are the older generation, not the young generation. I speak tonight...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Anne Rabbitte: .... It is my first time to address this Bill and I will only speak to one point in support of Deputy Robert Troy's comments this evening and over the past number of months. I do not sit on the transport committee or anything like that. I am no different from any of the other rural Deputies who have come before the Minister to speak. I will keep this short and sweet. Living in rural...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Jackie Cahill: ...person is caught going 5 km/h over the speed limit, he or she does not see the same penalties or fines as somebody driving 70 km/h or 80 km/h over the limit. A loss of a licence for a person in rural Ireland in many cases leads to a loss of a job. Their licence is their livelihood. The Minister, Deputy Ross, has managed single-handedly to put the fear of God into most of rural...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: ...they contain many common-sense proposals. There is also compromise in the amendments tabled. We should be clear on one aspect. The reason these amendments have been submitted is that in parts of rural Ireland the nearest taxi service is 15 miles or 20 km away. There is no rural bus but people need transport to get from A to B. The amendments refer to certain things that are required to...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Michael Collins: ...to God, she spoke for 16 minutes on various issues. Perhaps she did not and that is why she lost her position. That is another day's work. I have asked whether the Bill and amendments have been rural proofed. That is of great importance. The programme for Government commits to rural-proofing of legislation and that is very important in respect of this Bill. The Government is...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: I am a member of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport. We did some pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill and had the Road Safety Authority appear before us. I attended those pre-legislative scrutiny meetings with an open mind on this issue. Many things that people expressed about it show that it is a big deal. I understand that it is a big deal to change that sanction. I...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Danny Healy-Rae: ...his own driver, he does not care about having a licence or not, but fine for him if he does. I put it to the Minister and to all the Deputies in the Chamber that this is the most serious blow to rural Ireland and to people who just cannot manage without a car. If they lose their licence, they will be stranded at home and will be lonelier than ever. I do not believe this will save one...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Danny Healy-Rae: ...kind of a power ego trip, to get this Bill through. However, he does not realise he is hurting honest, good living people. I am speaking for Kerry. Every other Deputy can speak for their own rural area because people in those areas will be hurt too. No accidents or fatalities were caused by people in the 50 mg to 80 mg bracket. The Minister needs to realise what he is doing. He does...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Danny Healy-Rae: ...I do not believe that someone who has consumed a pint, or a pint and a half, and is under 80 mg is a drunk driver. The Minister is on some kind of a crusade and does not have constituents in rural areas who depend on their car to get to work, college or anywhere. In rural Ireland there are no other means of transport and there has been no attempt to ensure people can be catered for in...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Danny Healy-Rae: ...went to each other's house to visit and break the monotony of their lives. Nowadays, they have to drive because their neighbours are further away and the closer neighbours have left or emigrated. Rural Ireland was badly hit in the 1950s but in recent times it has been hit much worse. People drive to each other's houses but they cannot even have one drink now because they cannot be sure...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 May 2018)

Michael Healy-Rae: ...in place following the enactment of this Bill. That is why I still have the same problems. When I last spoke on this I made it quite clear I do not blame the Minister for everything that has gone wrong in rural Ireland but I see this as doing nothing to help the situation. I acknowledge that other people have put forward different arguments in support of what the Minister is doing. In...