Alan Kelly
Tipperary North · Labour Party · Ireland
“I have never, in my time in here, nearly 20 years, seen legislation so mental as regards the breadth and depth of issues. It is an A to Z of issues. Many of them could have been Bills on their own, while some of them could have been grouped together. The depth and breadth of issues here, however, is phenomenal.”
“I will not be opposing any amendments. Most of them are very technical, and a few of them are on significant issues. As I said previously, I believe in miscellaneous Bills. I brought them in myself. I have no issue with them, but this is one of the most mental Bills I have ever seen.”
“This is kind of like a repeat speech from when we previously discussed this issue. The motion is erroneous and mean spirited. The real question for the country is where these people are going to go. The options are not there.”
“It was thought that this would happen later, but so many people I know will be so thankful for and welcoming of this aspect of the legislation. They will be in with us later tonight. The issue in relation to counselling notes is one we really had to have so much discussion about. It was a very difficult discussion.”
“I acknowledge what the Minister said about my colleague, Senator Laura Harmon. She came to the Minister in relation to the sex-for-rent issue. I have to acknowledge the fact that the Minister has always commended her on this issue. She has always been a strong campaigner on this issue given her history of involvement in student politics.”
“It shows that they have worked. I do not see why, in the spirit of where we are and after everything we have said about the war in Ukraine, we are actually going to go and take this away now.”
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“that untrue and misleading evidence would be given to a judge of the Irish District Court in these circumstances, leaving him in the dark that these were decommissioned weapons supplied in a controlled delivery by members of An Garda Síochána [to set up] one naive [young] man[.] The central issue is that any deception - I use that word in the sense of a deception for the right reasons - in executing a worthy Garda operation needs to end when the independent, impartial judicial process begins. Does the Minister get that? It did not happen in this case. If John Lee in the Irish Mail on Sunday had not raised this issue, I am not sure we would have ever known. The book of evidence was served after his articles were published and we do not know what Evan Fitzgerald knew about the entrapment before he took his own life.”
“It said it was unaware of any court case where a judge categorically stated that a member of An Garda Síochána had misled him or her. How could the judge say that when the judge was not aware? The judge was told, and this was read into the record in the Seanad by Senator McDowell, that the arms were bought on the dark web. The judge later asked: "When you say the dark web, do you have any idea who was selling them on the dark web?" A member of An Garda Síochána, in sworn evidence, told him, "That is an ongoing investigation. At this stage I wouldn't want to", and the judge said, "Compromise the trial", and [then the garda] said, "[This] is an ongoing investigation on the dark web." We now know the guns and ammunition were supplied by An Garda Síochána, not on the dark web or by anyone else. Senator McDowell said: It is a shocking thing...”
“I ask him as Minister for justice to read over the DAR, which is the report of the court sitting where Evan and his two friends were charged. There needs to be full accountability on this from the Garda Commissioner down. Maybe the Minister should sit down with the Garda Commissioner on it. Please, please, please read the DAR. We cannot tolerate untruths being told to a District Court judge. In the Seanad on Tuesday, Senator McDowell said the same. Not alone was it a case of entrapment, but what was said in the court was not accurate. It was not true. Amazingly enough, An Garda Síochána said in the media that it was unaware of a judge having been misled. It was again answering a question it had not been asked.”
“The critical question is why there was not a knock on the door. Was it necessary to expend weeks in costly operations involving some of the most important Garda units to entrap this young man? Was it necessary to arrest him in the manner in which they did, smashing the windows of the car he was in, when they knew there was no threat? The other critical question is why An Garda Síochána needed such a big win. Why did the Garda agree to bail if he was such a big threat and warranted such a costly and high-profile Garda operation? I want to raise some critical issues. One relates to the evidence given in court by the garda in March 2024. I have a direct request for the Minister. It is one I hope he reflects on because I believe him to be a decent man.”
“I have no issue with controlled deliveries when used appropriately for reasons related to terrorism or organised crime. It is, by and large, good policing. However, they have to be used appropriately. I have serious concern when they are used on a vulnerable young man who, as a consequence of An Garda Síochána's actions, took his own life very publicly and had, I have no doubt, an impact on many other people in that shopping centre. I understand the HK G3 military assault rifle delivered to him was stolen by the Provisional IRA from Norwegian reserves in 1984 and recovered by An Garda Síochána well over 20 years ago. I cannot understand, and never will, why the Garda did not take a different strategy, especially after meeting him, observing him, talking to him, following him and profiling him.”
“Considering the legislation we are looking at, it is true to say that he had a fascination with guns. An Garda Síochána has admitted as much. However, given what we are talking about, Evan Fitzgerald was not a terrorist. He was not involved in organised crime, or any crime, for that matter. He took his own life. He could not see any way out and he felt so bad about everything that happened, particularly in relation to his two friends and their families. What these Houses need to ask is whether he needed to end up in that situation, in that dark hole. It is ironic, given the legislation we are discussing, that the Garda today detailed in the Irish Examiner how it uses controlled deliveries. Why it feels the need to put this out there, I have no idea.”
“Please be assured that I have been here a long time and I have seen what is brought up in relation to Bills. I was made aware of this Garda operation some time ago. It was months ago, long before this young man took his own life. Members will be aware that journalist John Lee wrote about it in the Mail on Sunday . So much has happened in this case that does not add up. This creates a nervousness for me regarding this new legislation. It is clear and obvious that what he was doing was totally wrong. None of us can argue that. I hope the Minister will reflect in a deeply honest way on what I am saying. He was wrong; he was a vulnerable young man. He was also something else, though. He was a young man who loved his family. He was incredibly close to his childhood friends, and I know this to be true.”
“Considering the Bill we are discussing, I want to raise some issues relating to the case of Evan Fitzgerald, the manner in which he was arrested and charged and his suicide. I want to say this to the Minister in a very honest way. I have probably never said this before, but it is one of the most disturbing things I have ever had to deal with in my life, not just in my career. From everything I know now, it is harrowing. It is so disturbing and I am deeply upset about it. I have had sleepless nights over this issue.”
“Freedom of expression and how far this Bill could potentially go is worrying for some people. These are genuine worries. We all know what is going on with Mo Chara and Kneecap; it has been referenced before. The phrase "glorification of terrorism" and how it is understood and defined, reaches into other areas of the Bill, can impact on the execution of the Bill and, in practice, can be used in everyday life is a concern for me. I genuinely want to support the theme of this legislation. That is the Labour Party's position but we have to get this right. The Minister really needs to get this right. I believe we will have to bring in a certain number of amendments. I hope the Minister will discuss them with us and take our views on board.”
“It is reasonable to ask, now that we have all had time to reflect after Brexit, whether we intend opting in to become the default option in justice and home affairs into the future. The implementation of this Bill will be monitored by the new Office of the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation, which was set up under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024. In this case, as the Minister is aware, the independent examiner is Mr. Justice George Birmingham, a retired president of the Court of Appeal. Once the Bill has been passed, he will be required to produce a review of its operational effectiveness at least once every three years. There is serious concern about some of the wording in this Bill. I think this concern is genuine. The definitions are critical.”
“The Bill proposes to transpose into domestic law the 2017 EU directive by amending aspects of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 and to introduce the following offences: receiving training for terrorism, travelling for the purposes of terrorism and facilitating travel for the purposes of terrorism. Ireland has an opt-out in EU justice matters. We signalled an intention to opt in to this measure soon after it was adopted. According to the regulatory impact assessment for this Bill, transposition will allow Ireland to also opt in to EU regulation 2023/2131, which aims to modernise the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, Eurojust, and to update this system for digital information exchange in terrorism cases.”
“Meanwhile, in the real world, while all of this theorising, debating, stalling and discussing was going on, a former Irish soldier travelled to Syria, during the civil war there, to join ISIS. We all now know that Lisa Smith was prosecuted and convicted of the offence of membership of an unlawful terrorist group and sentenced to 15 months in prison. If the gaps in the criminal law that the Bill is trying to fill might be of some practical assistance in cases like that of Lisa Smith, why the extraordinary delay in getting around to passing it? It is a simple question. If the Bill's provisions are not that important and we can have successful trials and prosecutions without it, we should not oversell it. The Minister should give an honest assessment of it, one way or the other.”
“More than six years ago, on 5 March 2019, the then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, reported to the House that he and other heads of government at the EU-League of Arab States summit had committed to working together more closely to address the root causes of terrorism and to continue joint efforts to combat foreign terrorist fighters. This was more than six years ago. In the same month six years ago, the then Minister for justice, Charlie Flanagan, said that the shared challenges facing all member states arising from the phenomenon of suspected foreign terrorist fighters had been a consistent focus of discussion with EU colleagues at meetings of justice and interior ministers.”
“The convention requires member states to create offences relating to public provocation to commit terrorist offences and recruitment and training for terrorism. We had done that much in the Act of 2005. The related protocol 215 to the convention supplements it and seeks to criminalise certain additional acts. The Bill finally published this year and being debated now will give effect to the requirements of the protocol Ireland signed ten years ago, as well as some outstanding earlier legislative commitments that will enable us to ratify a convention we signed 17 years ago.”
“It called on all members to address the issue of foreign terrorist fighters. The general scheme was then published on 8 September 2020. Over a year later, in December 2021, the Oireachtas committee joint agreed with the then Minister for Justice that it was not necessary to undertake pre-legislative scrutiny on the general scheme of the Bill. Considering the conversation we are having today, this is very strange. As the Bill has been promised since 2020, no one can argue that this has been treated as a priority. If we go back even further, Ireland signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism in October 2008. We have yet to ratify the convention. The phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters had already been identified as an issue in the 2008 Council of Europe convention.”
“We need to be very careful with this Bill. The Minister needs to get this right because there are legitimate concerns about it. The purpose of the Bill is to give effect to the EU directive 2017/541 on combating terrorism, which is to a large extent directed at the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon. The Bill includes offences of travelling to commit a terrorist offence, facilitating travel to commit a terrorist offence and receiving training for terrorism. Essentially, the 2017 directive is an updated version of already existing EU counter-terrorism measures. Its main purpose was to establish new offences to address the issue of foreign terrorist fighters. I would like to concentrate a little on the timeline of how we got here. In September 2014, UN Security Council Resolution 2178 was adopted.”
“When will a tariff be confirmed in relation to their construction? We are all in favour of renewables but we are way behind and it is unfair on communities across Ireland to be left in this situation.”
“I attended a public meeting on Monday night in Ballymackey outside Nenagh organised by a biogas concern group. I also met groups here a week earlier. Despite the issue of the location of the plan possibly being unsuitable, which road networks alone would dictate, we are committed as a country to achieving certain renewable goals in this area by 2030. It is proposed that there would be over 200 of these plants. There is no regulatory process for how these plants will be put in place. There are no planning guidelines. All county development plans say something different when it comes to this area. When will we have a regulatory framework for this? When will we have planning guidelines for this to give some guidance to local authorities when it comes to the mass of applications for this?”
“Would we have ever known the full details of the case considering what was said in court on 4 March last year? Would we have ever known the full details if I had not to ring the Minister for justice on 3 June in relation to this?”
“Under section 41 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner must inform the Minister for justice about any major issues. On 1 June, Evan Fitzgerald tragically and very publicly took his own life after getting bail on being charged after an undercover Garda operation. Why did the Garda Commissioner not brief the Minister for justice on the details of this case and the facts that there was an undercover operation and that the guns were supplied by An Garda Síochána? More important, is it appropriate and right that I, as a member of the Opposition, had to ring the Minister for justice about this and inform him about it? Is it correct that I had to tell him to go to the Garda Commissioner to ask him about the full details of this case?”
“Why has nothing been done in relation to it?" There are many other issues. I guarantee many still have not been brought to the Minister's attention. I encourage the Minister to have that truth and reconciliation meeting very soon. Otherwise, I will be coming to the House on many more issues he is not bloody well aware of.”
“Does this not create a huge risk which the Minister needs to put close to the top of his pile as regards issues the Commissioner has not told him about? I read recently that the Minister said he can only ask questions. Perhaps he needs to have a truth and reconciliation meeting with the Commissioner. Perhaps he needs to sit down and say, "Hey, Commissioner, do you know what, you are out the gap on 1 September. Is there anything else in the long list of issues you have not told me about?" Perhaps he should say, "As Minister, I should not have to ask the question." He should tell the Commissioner, "There is a thing called section 41 where you have to tell me things. Maybe you should have told me about this. Maybe this is an exposure of the State. Maybe I should have known.”
“It is very difficult for there to be claims when there is no awareness. How could there be claims if people were not aware that these buildings had high levels of asbestos? How could there be claims? How did they even know? I repeat that the head of the State Claims Agency said that unless remedial work was undertaken, the State Claims Agency would be unable to defend future claims. That leads me to believe there has already been a claim. This report was done by the State Claims Agency, An Garda Síochána and the OPW. Very little has happened and the State has been exposed to claims. Gardaí, contractors and, possibly, members of the public have been exposed, who are not aware and may have been ill. How could they make a claim if they were not aware and did not know they were exposed?”
“The SCA said in 2016 that we were exposed in respect of these Garda stations; I have a list of those stations and what is required in all of them. If we are exposed to that level and this directive has to be transposed by 21 December this year, where does that leave us as regards any gardaí who have been sick in the intervening years, who have had respiratory issues or possibly had issues in relation to cancer, where Garda members have been pregnant, where there have been issues regarding contractors and maybe even issues in respect of members of the public? Where are we on this? Was the Minister aware of this? What remedial actions are happening? What is the plan? Was the Minister told about this issue by the Garda Commissioner? It looks like he tells the Minister very little.”
“I have a query about the certificate given for reoccupation and where that stands. He might come back to me on that. There is a real issue here regarding health and safety, obviously, in the exposure to gardaí, the public, contractors, etc., but also in respect of the correspondence in the report, where Mr Kirwan, director of the State Claims Agency, said that unless the remedial work was undertaken, the State Claims Agency would be unable to defend future claims. Why was that not acted on? Have we exposed the State to considerable liability? This is before, as I am sure the Minister is aware, the asbestos directive from the EU has to be transposed into law by 21 December this year. That provides for a ten times decrease in maximum occupational exposure limits. We did not act from 2016 until now to the scale required.”
“Pat Kirwan, said that 12 Garda stations in particular were very badly affected and remedial works would have to commence within three months. That was nine years ago. The work has not happened. The 12 stations are Mountjoy, Kevin Street, Naas, Santry, where some works have happened, Bandon, Kilmainham, Ashbourne, Newcastle West, Baltinglass, Tramore, Blackrock and Blessington. On 3 January 2017, this report was sent to the head of Garda health and safety and copied to the head of the Garda estate. It was titled as "necessary attention". We then had nothing. It went into the abyss. We then had an issue at Santry Garda station, which the Minister is probably aware of, where the station ended up having to be closed in January of this year because of an issue with asbestos.”
“After the confusion of last week, I thank the Minister for coming in himself to deal with this issue. There are a range of issues relating to resources for An Garda Síochána that I discussed with the GRA and the AGSI yesterday. Today, I specifically ask about the resource the public knows as our Garda stations. In particular, is the Minister aware of the report done by the Office of Public Works, with the State Claims Agency and An Garda Síochána, in December 2016 on a review of asbestos surveys of Garda buildings? Will he confirm whether he is and whether the Commissioner or Department has informed him of this or not? The report states that 74 stations are affected by asbestos. The director of the State Claims Agency at the time, Mr.”
“How could the Department of justice confirm in writing to a member of the media that the issue in relation to Evan Fitzgerald's tragic case was referred to Fiosrú on 10 May and the Minister could not comment because of that, yet at the justice committee yesterday the Commissioner said he referred it on 18 to 19 May? How could the Department of justice and the Minister say it was referred more than a week before it was referred? How could they say it was referred a week before the Commissioner actually referred it? How, on 4 March, in the original court case which is now over for this gentleman, a Cheann Comhairle-----”
“Let me just have it documented that it is a farce to be left here until 12.10 a.m., waiting for hours, and then treated like this. In what other work environment would people be treated like this? We are all into family friendly environments.”
“I am not being difficult, but for this to happen at this hour of the night or morning - and I am not blaming the Minister of State - is farcical. It is an absolute farce to be waiting for all these hours and then be left in this situation. I do not see the point in proceeding.”
“To be fair to the Minister of State, he can only sit and listen to me. He is not even from the right Department. I will be sharing information. He will not be able to respond on the fly. It is detailed information. He will not be able to respond because he has no briefing and is not from the relevant Department, and it is now ten minutes past midnight. I was told by the Ceann Comhairle this morning, in writing, that my matter had been picked. I met the Ceann Comhairle and she told me in passing that it had been picked. I have waited all these hours to do this. It is up on the system, yet the Minister of State was not informed and we have no information or reply. What is the point in my going ahead? I want to know what relief I will get and what happened.”
“Wait a second though; the floor is mine but the Minister of State is saying that I withdrew this matter. I did not. It is on the system, as we can see with our own eyes. Obviously, I would expect the Minister of State to have a briefing. In actual fact, I believe the Minister or the Minister of State responding should be from the relevant Department. Is there any point in me doing this now? Where will this go if I do not take it this evening? Will it be prioritised?”
“I will put it to the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. In fairness to the Minister of State, he has been honest and direct. It is now 12.09 a.m. and I have spent five or six hours at committee meetings and then waited five or six hours to do this now.”
“Under Resolution 377 A, which was passed by the General Assembly in 1950, we are now calling for collective measures to enable the development of a lasting ceasefire, a sustainable peace agreement and, most importantly, an international peacekeeping force that will ensure people are not starving and that peace can be maintained and aid can get into Gaza. Every day, as we are standing, talking and debating here, children are dying. Will the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade do that on behalf of the Irish people following a mandate given to him by this House, as proposed by Deputy Smith and the Labour Party today?”
“As a country, we have to stoke a UN Assembly which is effectively neutralised because of an Israeli lobby that is so powerful around the world. Somebody has to act. Why can it not be little Ireland? Why can it not be this country? Why can it not be us? That is what we are trying to drive today, by ensuring that this House is mandated to call a special assembly to ensure that an emergency special session is called where a resolution states that the Security Council has failed and the international community has not acted. There are precedents for this.”
“We need a step change. Someone needs to lead the international community in a different way. I thank Deputy Duncan Smith for bringing forward our motion. It will be voted on tonight and we want everyone to support it. We need to lead that step change. Our proud history as a country in trying to lead on international change, international relations and peacekeeping dictates that we have a moral duty to do so. We all condemn what happened in relation to Hamas on 7 October 2023. We call for the release of all hostages. Simply put, what is happening now is genocide. The Israeli Government is conducting genocide. If any members of that government stepped off a plane here in Ireland, I would expect them to be arrested. I expect the Tánaiste would agree with that.”
“I know people who want to work in the HSE and who want to work in this sector but they have mouths to feed. The pay parity issue, which has gone on for years, is a real one. They are the four different components which I believe will go a long way to helping with this issue. I will conclude by repeating that I am not comfortable that we, as a State or as a Parliament, are allowing a 14-year-old child, who I totally and utterly respect and whose family I have worked with for many years and who I brought here initially a number of years ago, to sleep outside our Parliament tonight because she is so desperate to see this issue dealt with. It is the lowest thing I have seen in my 17 to 18 years in these buildings.”
“We all know the former Minister of State, Anne Rabbitte, stood in this House two years ago responding to a Labour Party Private Members' motion and made commitments that, no disrespect to her, have not been honoured. We need to bring in more people who are working in the private sector. We also need to upskill a large number of people who are in other disciplines in order that they are able to cross-work in this area. That is the quickest way in which we will deal with this issue. We also need to bring in more people from outside this jurisdiction in order to deal with this. We need to ensure we are not only training more people but that we are dealing with pay parity issues. Many people are working in other organisations, privately, etc., because of the pay parity issues with working in the HSE.”
“Also, for families who move in and out of the system to the private system, having the best of intentions, and try to jump back into the public system, there are complications there. I have a situation where somebody who is well known to many of us in this House has verified something which I have always thought, where when one's child seeks to be dealt with by CAMHS, it often looks for an assessment of need to rule out autism. I am beginning to wonder if that is just to keep the numbers down in CAMHS. I am fairly convinced it is a real issue. Many people speak about this issue but do not actually come into this House to look at solutions when they are in opposition. I will change that and talk about where we have to go as regards solutions. We all know we need more people working in this area. That is the ultimate issue.”
“This is a cry for help from the HSE. The HSE admits the list will go to 25,000 within another eight months. This is not sustainable for all the families out there who are fighting. The HSE also tells us it cannot provide the figures on how much longer than six months families have been waiting. All of us in this House know that it goes on for years. Not alone does it go on for years and years but then afterwards when one gets a service statement, it will take another number of years. It takes years to get an AON, it takes years to get a statement of service and then it takes years to get occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and everything else. It takes a block of years to get the AON, a block of years to get the service statement, and a block of years, if at all, to get the therapies. That is reality.”
“We, as a country, cannot have a scenario where a 14-year-old who has been fighting - in fairness, this is not today or yesterday - for two and a half years is sleeping outside the national Parliament because we are in a crisis and she, and many of the rest of us, cannot see a way out. It is a national scandal. We cannot allow it to happen. The Minister is a very decent person, I absolutely know that, but someone from the Government - the Taoiseach or somebody - has to go out there. It will be a stain on all of us if something is not done. A 14-year-old has to sleep outside the national Parliament in order for us to put in place crisis measures to deal with this issue. I received figures from the HSE in relation to this issue. I just want to say this out straight. I often ask questions of the HSE and it is not always so forthright.”
“I know the Minister for children is a very decent person. There are tens of thousands of families affected by what we are talking about, my own included. I deal with this issue every day. In my clinic recently, nine out of 17 appointments concerned issues experienced by people with autism. I have probably been involved the longest with Cara Darmody and with her father and mother in fighting for their two sons. I brought them here two and a half years ago. I know how determined Cara is and how determined the family are. I will say quite openly that I am so uncomfortable about the fact that it has gotten to the stage where a 14-year-old is sleeping outside tonight and tomorrow night. That needs Government intervention tonight.”
“This is one of the main reasons it will not be successful unless it is changed. Taxi and hackney drivers provide a fantastic service but it is a separate service. We need what I have proposed. It is totally possible. We need engagement with the insurance industry to execute it. It is deliverable. I ask the Minister of State to please become a hero for rural Ireland.”
“The local publicans can come together for the two nights a week that they will have a few people there and they will know what they need. They will be able to customise their requirements for the service. A number of businesses can come together, such as the shop, the community group, the publican or charities. I know there is a requirement and a demand for this service but under the current structure no one will ever take it up because it is too cumbersome. I am glad that, hopefully, we will have a new CEO of the NTA and, hopefully, a new vision. One of the biggest issues is this idea that such a service would displace taxis. This cannot be a major consideration because the restrictions on drop-off and pick-up, and the limits on fares, mean the service will only be used in the limited circumstances I referred to.”
“I thank the Minister of State and I appreciate his sincerity. He does come from a beautiful part of County Galway. I do not want to be talking about this matter for several more years. I know that there is a system we can put in place that will work. The requirements are specific. We need people to come together who can operate a vehicle that can be subsidised, such as through the €6,000 a year. These people should all have the one licence to be able to operate the vehicle. They should all come from the one community, whether it is Portroe, Newtown, Ballywilliam or the other areas near me that I mentioned. The point is that the process is too cumbersome. Another issue is that people in a locality know about an elderly person or a person with a mobility issue.”
“We will never be able to have services in rural areas unless we create a bespoke solution. I have been on this for a decade. It is doable. It has been done in other jurisdictions around the world, where a number of groups come together, such as businesses, community groups and charities, and there is a car which a number of people are licensed to drive. It is bespoke as to where they can pick up and deliver, and they cannot intercept the other taxi market. We have to introduce this because there is a complete failure at present.”
“Recently I met the NTA to discuss this. I understand the driver has to have a PSV licence but we should also have a licence for a vehicle which would be accessible to four or five people in a locality who can collect and deliver people within a radius of, for example, 10 km with set fares. These taxis or hackneys would be subsidised by a small amount by the State, as is proposed by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. These licences should be available easily enough, working with the local authority. We should not have a scenario whereby if there is a taxi in a locality this rural hackney licence is not provided. I can tell the Minister of State that where I am from there are registered taxi drivers but people cannot get them because they only operate for a few hours. This is their choice and that is fine. We have a failure here.”
“However, the reality is that Ireland has changed. There is a failure from a market point of view with regard to the provision of services but this goes beyond the market. Given the geographical distribution of people in this country, no market is going to be able to provide a bespoke solution for taxi and hackney services in rural areas. I come from Portroe, which the Minister of State knows. It is a small place on the banks of the River Shannon. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world, although I would say that. Trying to get a taxi there is literally impossible. People who want to go out socialising or to appointments, including to medical appointments, depend on the goodwill of neighbours or family. There is a whole range of other issues, such as shopping. The fact is that we can provide a solution.”
“To be honest, as his officials have probably already told him, I have been chasing this issue since 2012. The taxi regulations review brought about a new rural hackney licence. I was the Minister of State in that Department and I sponsored this. The application process started in 2013-2014 but very few took it up because it was too rigid in terms of the rules and regulations around it. This year, there were 22 vehicles and 24 licensed drivers. The then Minister, Eamon Ryan, launched a pilot in 2023 in Killala, County Mayo, to provide a subsidy for the fixed costs, which I welcome, and the NTA is looking at the various digital platforms with regard to trying to have bespoke solutions in rural areas for the provision of different transport options. That is all very welcome and the use of technology is important.”
“Nothing the Government can do now will fast-forward the process and deal with the issues, whether it is the Mickey Mouse housing unit in the Department of housing or the infrastructure unit in the Department of public expenditure. It is totally tokenistic rubbish and an absolute waste of time. It is already over. The time to fix things is gone. We can throw Apple money at the problem but it will not deal with it fast enough. This will be the rock upon which the Government perishes.”