Danny Healy-Rae
Kerry · Independent · Ireland
“I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about post offices. First of all, I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, and the Government for giving them financial assistance this year because they do need it. Like every other Member, I appreciate our post office network.”
“People should not be sent elsewhere to bigger towns because there are no longer banks in villages and it is very important for people to meet. Social interaction is so important with people. People are becoming very lonely in rural places because they do not meet as much as they used to at the creamery, the shop or the pub.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill and giving us the chance to discuss the possibility of a united Ireland. Since I was a young fella, all I ever heard was that was what we needed and that we could not stop until it was achieved. There is so much involved in this.”
“We hope that we will retain the post offices because as has been said here, the post office, the school and the GAA club are so vital for retaining the identity of parishes throughout the length and breadth of rural Ireland. We hope we will retain the post offices in Kilgarvan, Kenmare and Glenflesk.”
“We want that for the people of the North of Ireland as well but we must have the conversation as to what will be the story for all the different things. We must be united in this Chamber and the people of the Twenty-Six Counties must, by and large, be in favour of reunification. We need to hear their views.”
“We must be united here in this Chamber for a start, each and every one of us. We cannot be throwing Scud missiles across the Chamber at each other. We need to have a united front. This is a serious business. We need to know where this will lead us.”
The complete record
Every one of 737 lines we hold for Danny Healy-Rae, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 15 of 15.
“I am glad to have the chance to raise these important issues. I wish to discuss and deal with the issues preventing homeowners from renting out vacant houses and the tax that people have to pay. People must pay up to 50% in tax when they rent a private house or in respect of a house that they want to rent out. Fifty percent of €800 is only €400, and it is not worthwhile for many people who I know with these types of houses. The other thing is that people cannot get tenants out when they want to. That is happening a lot, and people are afraid to rent out their houses. People tell me the RTB has too much say, too much power and that it is in favour of the renter rather than the house owner but this is biting the renters as well because houses are vacant but are not available to be rented.”
“This could be an elderly person in their 70s, 80s or even 90s who is waiting for 48 hours in the corridor to get into a ward in University Hospital Kerry. It is not on.”
“There is one thing that is driving people absolutely stone mad - I would appreciate it if the Minister and Minister of State would listen to me for one second - and that is elderly people being taken out of their warm beds where maybe they have spent a long time because they got sick for one reason or another and are being taken in an ambulance or by family members and they finish up in corridors for 24 or 48 hours and until the weekend without anybody seeing because doctors are not to be found at evening time or late at night because they have finished up. This is totally and absolutely wrong. Will the Minister do something to ensure there is a bed there for the person who is coming out of their own warm bed?”
“I wish the new Minister and Ministers of State across the way all the very best in their work. We will try to work the best we can with them. There are a lot of elderly people in Kerry presenting with health issues. This is what we are talking about. A lot of people, young and old are not experiencing the health service they would expect.”
“We saw how de Valera stood up to Winston Churchill at the time of the Second World War. We prided ourselves on being neutral and we must stay neutral. In no way are we able to confront or take on forces from anywhere. We are better off staying neutral. It has served us well for more than 80 years. Neutrality is important to the people of Ireland. I ask the Minister of State not to forget that.”
“We must remember that the cost of fuel has gone up and has stayed up consistently and many people are suffering who have to travel, including those in the transport industry and other sectors. We see diesel and petrol prices have gone up from about €1.20 to €1.80 and more in places. Green diesel was 40 cent per litre and is now around €1.30 per litre. That is savage. We are paying more for electricity now than any other country in Europe because we need gas for electricity. What is important to us - Europe will say it must build up its defence forces and so forth - is our neutrality. I would hate to think that this would trigger our removal from being neutral and cause us to join a European army. People are very worried about that. I see the Minister of State shaking his head. I hope it will not happen. That is why I mention it.”
“Some others are not, and they must be encouraged to work now and play their part. It would not be fair to ask people to leave or move their children who are now in schools and have friends. It would not be fair at this stage to force them to leave where they are, but we need them to work and play their part and for whatever benefits they get, like anyone in Ireland getting benefits, they have to be means tested, accept that and pay their taxes like all of us. We have suffered a lot in that time as well. We did not lose lives, but the country has suffered a great deal financially. We have paid €5 billion or so to accommodate these people. All I ever asked for is that the same concessions they have related to renting houses be given to Irish people who are homeless and having severe difficulty accessing homes or houses.”
“There is no doubt that they have suffered a great deal. Thousands have been killed and thousands have been displaced. There is humanity in each and every one of us, and we are sad to see that happen. Something similar happened in Ireland more than 800 years ago. Our people suffered a lot until the culmination of the events that took place between 1916 and 1922, when we gained independence for most of our country. We are still without the very important Six Counties. Ireland has played its part, perhaps better than some bigger countries with larger populations and greater finances, such as France and so on, that are situated much closer to Ukraine. For one reason or another, we seemed to accept around 120,000 people. That is a lot. They are welcome, especially as many of them are working.”
“I commiserate with the people of Ukraine who have gone through so much and I welcome the visitors to the House today. I do not know whether they are still here. They are welcome to the Dáil to see what the people here are saying and thinking about. I am glad that Ireland has done its best for the Ukrainian people. Hotels provided accommodation and all the necessary facilities for the Ukrainian people. We have to especially thank the schools and teachers who at very short notice accepted children into their schools and did their best. It was difficult because many of them did not speak English and it was a burden, but they also helped schools to remain open and keep the number of teachers in rural places. In other places, maybe they were overcrowded, but everyone did their best for them.”
“There is a pub and a restaurant involved. Last weekend, these septic tanks, or whatever you call them now - treatment plants - flowed over. In this area, you are on top of the hill looking down into the lakes of Killarney. If pollution happens there, it will be detrimental to the whole tourist business in the town of Killarney and far beyond. This is going on for far too long. The money was committed last year. Why is it not being used? Will the Taoiseach intervene and ensure-----”
“I wish to ask the Taoiseach about a problem we have with two estates in Aghadoe in Killarney. These are the Old Killarney Village and the Birch Hill estate. Their treatment plants are out of date and no longer suitable. For many years, I have been requesting in the House that they be connected to the public sewer. On two occasions, funding has been made available in this regard. Going back a number of years ago, €400,000 was provided. Last year, the then Minister, Deputy O'Brien, committed €998,000. There is €300,000 to be made up by the local authority or someone else, but the local authority has informed me that it is no longer able to deal with these matters or ask for wayleaves and that it is up to Irish Water to do so. There is a stand-off between them now, but the people of these two estates are suffering.”
“I want the Ministers to address this issue. It is not fair that children with disabilities have to go up to County Meath, up against the Border with the Six Counties.”
“I wish to raise the issue of many parents in County Kerry whose children have been diagnosed with autism, ADHD and other intellectual disabilities. While the numbers continue to increase, the services are not readily available. Waiting times for assessments and diagnoses are taking way too long. There is a huge shortage of speech and language therapists. Many parents have to go down the route of private assessments for their children. This is a huge burden on families and many cannot afford it. Applications for domiciliary care and disability allowances for children are taking way too long. We have no respite places; hardly any at all. The St. Mary of the Angels centre, which was given over voluntarily and put in place by many volunteers, including parents, back over the years is being closed by stealth.”
“I am delighted by the news today that the Government is planning to exempt cabin-style units at the back of family homes. This is a wonderful idea. My brother, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, and I have been looking for this for many years never more so than now. It is a great idea and I thank the Government. This is a real attempt at housing people that can happen very quickly. In tandem with that, many people are being denied planning permission in respect of sites at their parents' homes. They are being deprived because of something called urban-generated pressure. "Urban" to me means town or village. These people never lived in a town or village. They lived in their parents' house in the country. Why are they being disallowed planning permission? These people will cost the Government nothing.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I do appreciate that he will see after west Cork, but I am asking him now, seeing as he is in the position, to see after Knocknagashel, Knight's Mountain and other places in Gneevgullia, and Crag, in Castleisland. I am depending on him to see after those places now for me.”
“This minimum of 26 houses cannot be entertained when five or seven houses and 18 houses do not have any water and where their wells went wrong. These people have done everything possible. They have drilled wells in different places and so on and they do not have drinking water at present. I am asking the Minister of State to do something about this in this Government's time.”
“The smaller number must be considered as well, and 18 is almost there in my book, but we cannot have that everywhere. I am amazed also that Irish Water is not aware of the pressure problems up in the higher areas of Castleisland. I know it is doing works, but that is going a different way. It is going into the town, where there was a massive amount of breaks from Ballymacadam and down through the Main Street in Castleisland. That is dealing with a different issue, but the areas up in Crag have no drop of water for half the summer every year. I am asking the Department to go back and get Kerry County Council to liaise with Irish Water if that makes a difference. However, it is Kerry County Council that is responsible for the group water scheme and its provision and to make it more friendly for the people who need water to do something.”
“I hear the Minister of State say that Uisce Éireann has not heard anything and knows nothing about this. I did mention to him that it is Kerry County Council that has the responsibility in the first place for group water schemes and to administer those schemes. I am kind of amazed that Kerry County Council has not liaised with Uisce Éireann in this case, but the facts are as I have outlined to the Minister of State very clearly. These people, especially those in Lyracrumpane, applied back in 2022 and they failed to get it going. The Minister of State said there is a grant of up to €15,000, but he never said there is a minimum requirement of having 25 houses. What about the seven, five and 18 houses I have mentioned? There are several others like them.”
“We can remember when houses were without water for four, five or six days a few weeks ago, which was terrible, but can you imagine being without water all day every day, week after week? The people at Knight’s Mountain tried to get the group scheme going in 2022 and the price they got at the time was €720,000. Even after the grant, they would have to pay up to €45,000 per house. That is not on at all. We must help the people. Kerry County Council is the local authority that administers the group water schemes. This has to be done to Irish Water’s standards, which require top-standard work. That is insisted upon. The cost is so prohibitive that the Government will have to do something, perhaps helping the people to lay the main themselves. These roads are very quiet and those concerned could work along the sides of the roads themselves.”
“There are two more affected places in Gneevgullia, namely from Knocknaseed to Banard and from Coom over to Banard, where five and seven affected houses, respectively, cannot get a connection because the cost of the group scheme is too prohibitive. There are also high areas up in Castleisland where the pressure goes down in the summertime, making water scarce. These include Dooneen, Crag, Churchtown and Glounsharoon. These people suffer from very low water pressure every year when water gets scarce later in the summer. All they are asking for is a mile of an extension to where there is an adequate supply coming from the Brosna side. For years, they have been asking for this but they have been left behind. Will the Minister of State, Deputy O’Sullivan, consider very seriously doing something for these people? Water is a basic human right.”
“I am glad to have the opportunity to raise the very serious plight of people in Knight’s Mountain, Knocknagashel and Lyracrumpane, which are beside one another. They have very little water. In fact, their wells are now obsolete because the water is undrinkable. When you pour the water out of them, it is like a cup of coffee. It has gone brown and they just cannot drink it anymore. There are up to 18 houses involved. The cost of the group extension is too prohibitive. In this instance, where the supply line is 4.8 km away, the cost of the overall scheme would be €720,000. This price was given two years ago, so it would be more expensive now. I understand there are up to 18 houses is involved. Each would have to contribute somewhere between €38,000 or €39,000 and €45,000, which is totally prohibitive.”
“I wonder who will be blamed when the story comes out in north Kerry because it is up the line and we are not getting the proper services down to the patients.”
“I wish both Ministers of State well in their new jobs. County Kerry has its fair share of mental health problems. We all know what happened with south Kerry CAMHS when 250 children were badly wronged, mistreated and badly let down. Not much has changed since then in south Kerry. Families are left to their own devices to try to mind their children around the clock. Some people cannot go to work because they have to stay with their children. There seems to be no way out. There is a waiting list of two years in some cases. That is not fair or adequate at all in this day and age, when a life could be depending on a bit of help. People need proper help and not just antidepressants. We are still waiting for the report on north Kerry CAMHS. A junior doctor was blamed in south Kerry.”
“This Government-generated pressure from strict planning is the cause of it. I want to mention treatment plants. Every one of them is not capable. We cannot build even one house in some of our towns and villages.”
“It never started because it got no funding. Bridges like Listry Bridge, Boston bridge and all the bridges around the Ring of Kerry were built over 200 years ago. They were only built for horses and carts. We need hospitals properly staffed and we need the new community hospital in Killarney to be open right away. We need to value farmers and not be blaming them. We need to do something to encourage farmers' sons or daughters to get into the farming because they are not doing it at present. They are going to avoid it. On planning, so many people would build their own houses in Kerry if they could get planning permission but they cannot - even on their own land. If it is not a farm, they will not get planning permission beside their mothers and fathers.”
“I hope this new programme for Government delivers for County Kerry because Kerry has definitely left behind for a lot of years now. Even Killarney is in a desperate state. It needs a bypass first of all but in the short term daily traffic is going in to Killarney from every side meaning that people are now avoiding it. That is detrimental to tourist providers and to business in the town and we need to do something in the interim to ensure the traffic is freed up in Killarney. We have over 660 other roads on the list and we are doing 24 a year. We need to up that by four times the amount. We need to be doing at least 100 so that the roads could be done in six or seven years. Blackwater Bridge to Sneem was left behind last year again because of Eamon Ryan. It was shovel-ready to start last January.”
“What will the Government do about section 39 workers, who have been left behind for so long, regarding pay parity and conditions? They are about to strike shortly. They are calling for industrial action and I feel they have no choice but to do that because they have been promised for so long. These section 39 workers do Trojan work in Kerry around people with disabilities and all the other little problems they have. They do the very same work as section 38 workers but are not paid the same. It is not fair that two sections do the same work but one is paid less. These workers have been promised parity for so long. When will the Government honour the promise made here between 2016 and 2019?”
“I am asking the Minister of State to deal with that and not to have the scenario where it is taking 12 months for householders to draw down the grant. One of the implications of that is that they have to take out the chimney. That requirement will have to be removed. I am depending on the Minister of State and the Government to sort this out because it is costing double or triple. If these three houses had a rub of paint and a few necessary things done to them, they would have been roaring again after two months at most. It has now been 12 months or more. How long more will this take? It will not happen in a couple of days. Three houses have been gutted in Kilgarvan village to take the chimneys out of them. Please stop this. I ask the Minister of State to do just that.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I join him in thanking all the emergency services and all the people who went out in the dark and wet, night and day, trying to get the electricity going again and all the people in the health services, especially those who visited old people - home helps, etc. - for all the great work they did. The Minister of State said there are no regulations preventing stoves being put in to new houses. To get a loan and to achieve the BER rating that the banks demand, whatever business of the banks that is, people cannot have a stove or chimney. That is the hard fact. Why will the Department not give the money to the local authority - in our case, Kerry County Council - to retrofit houses? They will not qualify for the retrofit grant if they do not take out the chimney.”
“Please leave them something for times of emergency when they need food or need to boil the kettle, a pot of spuds or whatever. Leave them something as a back-up.”
“If people who, all of a sudden in the snow and frost, had electric heating all around them and everything was at the touch of a button, had a simple stove, they could boil the kettle, fry or boil an egg or fry a rasher and a sausage. They would not be hungry. However, they were cold and miserable and some of them did not even have water. On top of that, they had no access until the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team came to their assistance. It is unbelievable what is happening today. I wish the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and all the Ministers well in their new posts. It is important for the sake of the people of Ireland that they do well. Common sense must prevail, however. The Minister of State should forget this racket or caper of taking chimneys out of houses because they are insulated enough.”
“In Gneevgullia, it took five years to get three houses reinstated because the Department demands that the chimney is taken out before the house is made liveable again. It is unbelievable that chimneys are being taken out of houses that were lived in until the other day. It costs any amount of money. I must presume it costs at least €100,000. The cost for three houses would build another new house or perhaps one and a half new houses, no bother in the world. I am asking for common sense. We will forget about the way this came about. I want the Government to rectify it. There is no need in the wide world for it.”
“They are advised to take the chimneys out of the houses and it is totally and absolutely wrong because the chimney was the most important component of the house. It was there to take the smoke out, but it was also there to take the foul air out. None of this is needed because there is plenty of insulation in the houses being built today. I passed through the village of Kilgarvan. There is a scenario where the roofs have been taken off three council houses that are void and vacant, and people are crying to get into them. The roofs have been taken off to take out the chimney. They have to take off the back side of the roof to get the chimney out and this is what they are ordered to do. The purpose of this is to get the house fitted and ready for the next tenants, but this is the delay.”
“I hope they do not find out I am here; they might stop me talking. It is very important to debate this issue here tonight. Many people in Kerry have been perished from the cold when the houses that were basically heated by electricity lost power. Can the Minister of State imagine young families trying to heat a bottle for babies? Simple things became an awful ordeal. Water pumps did not work because of the electricity being out. In times gone by it would not have been so bad because people could boil the kettle of water or hang it on the crane like my grandmother did and it was boiling all the time and she even had the door open. However, this whole thing has gone mad. The whole thing is overkill.”
“I will be asking him and all in the Government to ensure recognition is given to the fact that trees are falling down on the top of people. I thank the people who did so much: the local authorities, the ESB, and especially those who went out to those with autistic children and got it going for them. I include Eir, the fire squad, the mountain rescue team that rescued the families in Cordal. There were three places badly affected in Cordal, Brosna, Scartaglin and Gneevgullia. I do not want this happening anymore on our watch. This will have to stop and the lines will have to be upgraded. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence. We have to thank the farming community, all of them, and then the Kelly brothers, like other contractors, who cleared the roads-----”
“I have a lot more to say in thanking the people of Kerry but we are talking about the storm and the snow because the two things are combined in that the same thing happened both times in that the electricity went out. Basically, it is caused by trees falling on lines. We have seen the sad episode where a tree fell on a young man going home from work in Donegal. It would have been the same whether it had been in Kerry or outside of our door. He was one of our own and he was killed by a falling tree. There should be no tree within falling distance of the road or the lines - full stop. That is the lesson we have learned. I am not blaming for what has not been done up to now but I am asking for it to be corrected now, and I am depending that it will be done, whoever has responsibility for it. Maybe it is my brother.”
“I thank the people of Kerry for sending me up here again for a third time. I thank each and every one of them. They all know who we are, my family and all the people who work for me. I thank them all so much for depending on me and sending me up here again to talk for the people of Kerry and to represent Kerry, and I thank them for electing Michael, my brother. A Chathaoirligh, do not tell them I am here at all. There are a lot of people trying to stop me talking. Do not let on that I am here at all but I will stay here as long as the people of Kerry want me to stay, and not the begrudgers who do not want to allow me to talk. First of all, I congratulate the new Government and I wish it well. We are talking about the storm.”