Marie Moloney (Labour)

I have been listening all morning to incidents that have taken place on O'Connell Street but I wish to speak about another incident that took place. I wish to highlight what happened on the Mallow to Cork road last Saturday where a sulky race was taking place. Those involved had the audacity to put it up on YouTube. The race was so dangerous that hundreds of lives were put in danger. They were racing down on the wrong side of the road and all the traffic coming against them had to swerve. It was being recorded from a van going down the wrong side of the road with a child in it. The Garda was there and what took place was a pure defiance of its presence. In fairness, a spokesman from Pavee Point has criticised the incident and described it as a reckless endangerment of lives. This is part of Traveller culture and it can take place but it must be done in a safe environment. I call on the Minister for Justice and Equality to come to the House for a debate on the issue. We will examine whether it is safe to have such a practice on our national roads. Perhaps it could be accommodated by a road closure. When a running or cycling road race or rally event takes place, the roads are closed for the day. If Travellers want to proceed with such events, they should make a legal application to the Garda to have a road closed in order for the event to take place. What is happening at the moment it is a danger to lives. I ask the Deputy Leader to invite the Minister for Justice and Equality to come to the House to inform Members whether something could be done under road traffic legislation.