David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is a defect in the law. I ask the Leader to contact the Government and ask it to produce legislation to deal with this matter. In England, a company that is in profit is not allowed by law to walk away from its obligations to pensioners and this is what should happen in this country.

I ask for a debate on transport, particularly in respect of the city of Dublin. The city manager of Dublin has made the moronic suggestion that cars throughout the city should only be allowed to travel at 18.5 mph. If that were the case, cyclists could pass cars. The call has been made because the people in charge of Dublin City Council, formerly known as Dublin Corporation, hate motor cars. They do everything they can to create danger all over the city and are a liability in Dublin. I refer in particular to the spikes at the back gate of Trinity College and having two bus lanes but only one for cars on Pearse Street. Everything is done to stop people using their cars. Also, due to work on the Luas, the streets have been dug up all over the place. The new Luas system was an idiotic proposal. In the beginning, there were two separate lines that were totally unconnected and there was no spur to the airport. I tried many times and we nearly got the powers that be to create an underground.

I listened to Paddy Cosgrave from the Web Summit. He was asked how the summit in Lisbon had gone and his first reply was that it was absolutely brilliant because there was an underground at the airport. He said that the underground made the difference between Dublin and Lisbon. Can we debate the need for an underground? The matter has been masked. People have placed a veil across the matter and claimed there can be no underground due to safety concerns. That is absolute rubbish. It is the hatred of the two principal officials of Dublin City Council for the motor car. The real cause should be exposed as such. Citizens have a democratic right to their motor cars, particularly people who live in the inner city like myself. I can scarcely use my car because of so many one-way streets, areas blocked off and having bicycle this and that. It is absolute rubbish - here's to the motor car.