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.”
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“Some of them have been at it for six or seven years. I will say to the Minister that all those who have been at it for more than seven years are entitled to keep at it. We need to further and better those people and ensure they continue in business.”
“I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important topic this evening. Tourism is major moneyspinner for businesses in Kerry. I want to thank the businesses of Kerry because they do it so much better than anywhere else. Our hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, bars and all the entities we have in tourism - our jarveys, boatmen and busmen - all do their work so professionally. That is why people keep coming back to Killarney. We have an issue, or the Government seems to have an issue, with Airbnbs. It is a great way for people in Kerry to bring business into our county because people come for that product. I think that for the person who owns a house, it should be their decision, and not the Government's decision, that they can use it whichever way they wants. Many people have been doing Airbnbs for over 20 years.”
“Columbanus's Community Hospital, and a primary care centre. All these things are held up while this is being finalised. The summer holidays will come and I am worried the new hospital will not be open and there will be nothing at all done about those three things, especially the extra respite services that are needed. I see people could not go on holidays last year after minding their elderly or sick parents, sisters or brothers. They had no place for the patients to go. We were promised that would be decided and sorted out for this summer but it is not going to be. That is the crib I have. It is terrible to think there is some fooling and carry-on going on in the HSE. God knows it is getting enough money to spend it properly, to see it is properly done and to see things like this are done in a timely fashion.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her reply but practically everything she read out was read out by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, a month ago. Here we are with this confusion again placed upon the people of Killarney and the surrounding area. Surely the HSE knew the hospital was to be finished before the end of last December. Surely it knew staffing arrangements would have to be agreed with the INMO. Surely it knew HIQA would have to have everything certified. Why was that not done? It has had nearly two years to organise all this and we are being told the same thing today that I was told a month ago. So much is contingent on this hospital opening. We need extra respite services in Killarney, which were to go into the whole district. We need a minor injuries unit, which I think was going into St.”
“The HSE said it was engaging with the INMO every second day or every second week. Who is telling the truth? It will come out now that the reason for the delay is exactly that, namely, that the INMO and also HIQA have questions to be answered.”
“The man is entitled to go about his business but I thought it would be him here. There are many elderly patients waiting to get into this public nursing home. We have excellent private nursing homes all around Killarney but we need a dementia unit. It is critical for so many because there are people getting dementia at a younger age. There were to be 30 beds opening for dementia patients as part of this. Many of the private nursing homes cannot cater for dementia patients or do not have the facilities. We are begging for this on our knees. The lights have been on in the building since before Christmas and it was cleared to go. I raised with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, that the INMO said there was no engagement by the HSE with it regarding the staffing.”
“I will not speak for the other Deputies but I feel my credibility is being undermined by this kind of carry-on, which is what I would call it. We were told clearly it was going to open and the patients would be transferred from the old district hospital to the new community hospital building before the end of June. Who is calling the shots? Is it the HSE at national level? Is it the Minister? Who has the power or the responsibility? Who directed these people? Did they take it upon themselves? I do not think they did. Someone informed them to relay to us that the hospital would open before the end of June. I want an answer to that. I do not know whether the Minister of State can give it to me. I thought it might be the Minister of State who was here last month but I have learned he has gone away, and that is fine.”
“I am glad to get the opportunity to raise this issue again. I will tell the Minister of State why I am doing it again. I raised this matter exactly a month ago, on 12 May, with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. We spoke at length about the need and the urgency of opening the community hospital in Killarney. On 29 May, there was a meeting arranged between the HSE locally and the five TDs from Kerry, one of whom is me. It was laid out clearly in front of us by the HSE people, who I believe are in charge of Cork and Kerry, that the community hospital would open before the end of June. That was on 29 May. About a week ago, it was made known to the county councillors that it would not open at the end of June.”
“I do not think the Government would be doing the right thing to stop them from playing unless we get direct confirmation from the team or the management about what they want to do.”
“Whatever they want is what I want. They cannot be blamed for playing Israel. UEFA or whoever drew up the schedule and ordained that Israel was to play Ireland. Maybe it is UEFA have a right to kick Israel out of the competition but it is wrong to blame our players, our countrymen, for playing in this competition. Will it finish them for the whole of this tournament? Those are the questions we need to ask. Will it throw them back an awful lot? We need to know that. I am concerned. I do not blame Sinn Féin for tabling the motion. It is on everyone's minds and everyone is concerned about the reckless harm Israel has done. Netanyahu and the others are criminals. I have no problem saying that because they have done terrible, terrible things. We are deciding the fate of Irish team here.”
“We all know what harm Israel is doing, the loss of lives, the loss of little children and the murder that is going on. We are helpless. We cannot do a bit about it. We do not have an army. We are a neutral country. I know it would be a good message to send to the Israeli Government but it will take no notice of that. It is our Irish team I am concerned about. Do the players want to play? Does the FAI want to proceed? It should be up to them. I do not want to see the Israelis coming here to play a game. Maybe it should be played in some neutral country. I have to know more about what implications this will have for the team. We remember the glory days of Jackie Charlton and we still appreciate, while the players and teams have not been doing as well in recent times, they are our team. They are the Irish team and we must stand by them.”
“I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Michael Collins. Each and every one of us knows what harm the Israelis have done all over the world and continue to do. We do not support that. I am concerned about stopping our Irish team from playing a game and I wonder whether it may have far-reaching repercussions for them. The players have trained and come this far. Will it be just this game they forfeit? How many points will they lose? Will they be thrown out of the competition? I am worried about all those things. I would like to know what the players themselves think. It should be up to them and the FAI to decide what is right for our team. I do not blame Sinn Féin for being angry. The Social Democrats have tabled another motion on the same matter. In no way in the world do I blame them.”
“We then see that we have no bother in the world giving €40 million to Ukraine in the middle of the crisis. That is on top of all the other money it was given. We borrowed approximately €1.9 billion for a loan for Ukraine. We did not cause the war at all. No Irish person had anything to do with it. Does the Government think it is fair to load the people of Ireland with that kind of bill on top of the €125 million they gave Mr. Zelenskyy when he was here? They gave it to him in his back pocket when he was going home. There is a place called stop. See after your own people first and think of your own people, because they will think of you when you come to the door and will remember what the Government put them through in March and April. They will not forget. It is time to cop on.”
“That was the worst part of it all. Maybe the Government thinks those people have forgotten what caused that. I can remind them there was a 94-year-old woman with a flag on the bypass in Killarney. Why was she out? Why were the nurses giving out? Why were the teachers giving out? Why were they all protesting? It was not just farmers and contractors. Many people were feeling the pinch and felt they could not pay the people who mind their children when they go to work and pay for the fuel to go to work and pay for everything else. I ask the Government not to leave those people behind if things are still as bad on 31 July, because that will not be long coming. I am also very concerned about the value taxpayers are getting when we see the pressure they are under every day with the taxes they are paying.”
“When diesel and petrol were approximately €1.20 per litre and the Government was trying to discourage people from using both we saw that people cannot manage without it. They cannot afford electric cars. They will not go far enough. When it was €1.20 per litre carbon tax was put up. Surely there is no case to be made when it goes up to €1.80 per litre that they should get carbon tax then as well. That is wrong. Many people have not qualified for these packages. I remind the Minister of State of that. Many people are not entitled to the rebate system in place. Packages should last until at least the end of September when we are back here to make sure people can live in between. I saw people protesting on the bypass in Killarney and I was hurt at that time because I saw friends there who would not talk to me.”
“I ask the Government to go back to what I asked on 24 March when it forgot about the people on green diesel and heating oil. When green diesel went up 80 cent, the Government offered 3 cent. When green diesel is at €1 per litre the Government should not be claiming tax on anything above that, whether carbon tax, VAT or anything else and they should charge less for it. It is the same at the pumps. Give it back to the people at the pumps. The Government should take the taxes it was getting until the emergency happened and give back the rest of it to the people entitled to get it. The carbon tax increase has been postponed, but what will happen in October? Will they carry on with it?”
“Those who are lucky enough to have turf have their fires lighting. Many people cannot afford heating because of the cost of electricity and the cost of the heating oil. Nothing was done for the people who need heating oil. There was nothing done except that the fuel allowance was extended. However, many people are not on fuel allowance and are not entitled to get it. Many farmers and farm contractors are under severe financial pressure to manage day to day costs of fuel and to carry out their work. It is shameful that these reductions in fuel are only temporary. I am worried. The war is not over. We will go on holidays. The Dáil will close down on 16 July, and we will not be back until around 15 September. I am worried about people in that space of time. Will there be any preparation to extend the relief packages in place?”
“Many people are in a desperate state. I appeal to the Minister of State to acknowledge that. While I welcome these energy supports, which are badly needed, a lot more needs to be done. With over 300,000 people in energy arrears, there is no question as to the impact the increase in energy costs is having on people. Something needs to be done about the ever-increasing costs of electricity. Since Bord na Móna closed, the cost of electricity has gone up each and every day. Electric Ireland is putting prices up by 8% again. Where is it going to stop? Is there any regulator? Many working people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Those people at home all day on illness payments, disability and pensions need to have a warm home. It is quite cold for this time of the year.”
“We would have no trouble in keeping down the prices while wars and other things are going on in other parts of the world.”
“During the recent fuel protests, it became clear that we do not have enough oil reserve capacity. In the early days, there were mutterings that Europe could facilitate up to 12 months. There was no more about that then. What is the position regarding the massive storage tanks in Whiddy Island? We can all see them from the road from Kilgarvan to Bantry. What is inside those tanks now? Is it water, bird seed or what? Did the former Minister Eamon Ryan fill them with concrete? If he did, he should be given a lump hammer and a screwdriver to remove the concrete along with some of his supporters. He promised to do things like that. What are we going to do with the tanks on Whiddy Island? Are we making use of them? We need 12 months of a reserve.”
“I said the cost of a house Kerry was €220,000 to €280,000. I meant it was €220 to €280 per square foot to build, so when we add that up, that comes to over €400,000. I am saying that too many people are having trouble getting the mortgage in the first place and we need to do something about it.”
“The other thing is that the birth rate is falling yet our population is going up with a population increase of over 500,000 in recent years. This is putting pressure on house availability. With many vacant houses, there is no real incentive available to owners to rent them out but there is an incentive there that is working for the Ukrainian people, namely, a tax-free payment of €600 to the landlord. If we could do something like that for some of our own people, it would be great for them. People coming from other parts of the world are very welcome to come here if they are coming here to work but it should never be the case that they can come in here, get a payment right away, get on the social housing list and compete with our own people who were born and reared here. We must look after our own people first. I need to clarify something.”
“In County Kerry, the cost of building a new house is €220 to €280 per square foot, which means that the type of houses being built at present are costing somewhere between €200,000 and €280,000. That is on top of the cost of the site. One will face a cost of €400,000 before the house is completed. I am asking the Government to look at these things to see whether we can stop people from leaving our shores.”
“I and many others have been asking for the planning process to be made easier for many years. The other problem relates to mortgages. In the context of getting a mortgage, people can borrow four times the combined gross annual income of up to 90% of the value of the property. That is a big problem for many. People need proof of steady employment for at least 12 months and a deposit of 10%. Most mortgages now, because of the massive costs involved, are taking 30 to 35 years to pay back. Many people will have reached pension age before they fully own their houses. In the UK, there is no VAT on building materials. What can Ireland not be the same? The cost of the building is increased by one third as a result of tax, VAT and other levies. There should be an incentive to build smaller houses.”
“I hope that the new planning Bill - there has been a lot of talk about it coming shortly; it cannot come quickly enough - will go far enough to ensure that people can get permission to build houses near or in their own localities and that they will be allowed to build entrances adjacent to national primary and secondary roads where it is safe to do so and where access already exists. The Government is encouraging people - as I said, nurses and mechanics and those with good qualifications - to come home from Australia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and everywhere else and aims to halt the flow of the present crop of boys and girls who are leaving in their droves in the first instance. Both things will be achieved if the Government gets the planning right.”
“As the Tánaiste is aware, many young people between the ages of 25 and 33 are leaving our shores. Many of them were in good, settled jobs. These are gardaí, teachers, mechanics and people with different trades. They are valuable individuals, and they are leaving because they simply believe that they cannot buy or build a house for themselves. They say that if they were not working at all or working only part-time, they would qualify to get on the local authority list and, eventually, get a social housing unit. In other words, they are telling us that there is no incentive for them to continue working in Ireland.”
“When I think of all the people who suffered financially, it might have been for small sums of money when we look back on it. This is a massive sum of money to be giving to one man and making a job for him. The Government will not get much praise for this because it is another big job for one of the boys and I could not stand over that. I could not vote for that and I will not be voting for it either. I cannot see that it is fair on the people who suffered over the years, especially in the past ten or 15 years.”
“Their places were put up for sale with a certain auction date, perhaps not even advertised publicly enough. Their places were sold behind their backs in many instances, without going through any court or any judge making an order that their properties, houses or land could be sold. I hope some day those people will get fairness and retribution for what happened to them. I am sorry for the people who lost their lives and marriages. Losing property is one thing, but families and lives are much more precious than anything material. So much happened that I am not sure why the Government is doing this. There is another aspect. Who decided that this chairman, CEO or whatever he will be, will get more than €400,000? Why does it have to be that amount of money? No man or woman in the State is worth that kind of money.”
“I appreciate him for being straightforward and as honest as he could, regardless of where it left him. I have a special hatred for vulture funds. There should be no place for them. If people had engaged or dealt with the banks to get loans or mortgages, the banks should still be looking for the repayments and not vulture funds because the vulture funds did desperate things to people. They forced and blackguarded people and did everything in the world to people. I regret and resent that. I will always remember it as a desperate, undemocratic time in the lives of people all over the country. I hope that the fact there was no court order in many instances will be dealt with because many people will not be dealt with fairly until that has been tested. Many people were left behind and dealt with wrongly where there was no court order.”
“Like many others have said, the universal social charge was brought in at the time of financial difficulty to try to keep the country running. There is no need for it now and many working-class people are still suffering. I do not understand why the Government is closing the book on NAMA. I am worried that there are still people who may not have been dealt with properly and that we will be closing some legal gap for them to come back and fight their cases and maybe get their property, or the value of it, back. I am worried about it. I am not sure about it. Like Deputy Mattie McGrath, I thank Deputy John McGuinness for the fearless way he dealt with many people as Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts and the tough questions that had to be asked and answered.”
“There are many instances where the former owners attempted to buy back their property from the receiver but they were not allowed to do so because the receiver had favourites to whom to sell it to - maybe to their own families. That needs to be followed up. Where a property or a home was sold and there was no court order, that needs to be investigated because that was totally wrong. They should have been engaged with and it should have gone through the courts to ensure it was proper. I cannot understand how a deed could be taken from someone and passed on to someone else. Were new deeds written or what happened that new people could take over a person's land while that person still had the deed and the courts never took them? I cannot understand that.”
“I am glad to get the opportunity to say a few words. As many others have said, those ten years were an awful time in the lives of many people in our country. Many people lost their homes and lands and, worse than that, they lost their marriages and some of them lost their children. They lost everything. Some even lost their lives. It was a terrible time and NAMA was a word many people regretted and resented. I refer to the liquidators, vulture funds and the things that happened. As I said, homes were taken. The thing I worried about most was that there was no court order in many cases. Liquidators and receivers took it upon themselves to close the book on people and sell their properties.”
“The square in Kenmare town has been flooded many times over the years. To that end, I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for public works, Deputy Moran, for going down there and taking stock. A scheme is promised to deal with the situation. However, a sewerage pipe is crossing the eye of the courthouse bridge which collects debris and trees and practically blocks the river. This is what causes most of the flooding. I am asking if that sewerage pipe could be removed in the interim. To facilitate this happening, a small pumping station would have to be put in to pump the sewage over the bridge rather than it going through the pipe crossing the eye of the bridge. It is a simple project that could be done. I am asking if the Taoiseach will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, to expedite this matter.”
“The only difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael at that time was that Fine Gael was apparently in favour of getting rid of the triple lock and Fianna Fáil was not. If Fianna Fáil wants to change that, it means the two parties will more or less unite and be one party because there will be no difference between them, in my eyes anyway. De Valera stood up to Churchill in during the Second World War. As a young fella I listened to his speech. England had oppressed us for more than 800 years and he told Churchill where to go. De Valera was not taking his dictation when he was asked to forgo neutrality and get involved in the war and open the ports for England. I and many people will forever thank de Valera for that stance, for standing up to the powers of the world at the time and holding our neutrality.”
“First, I thank Deputy Stanley for bringing forward this timely and important motion to allow us to say what we want in Dáil Éireann regarding neutrality. It is most important that we retain our neutrality and the triple lock. If the Government wants to change it, by all means it should put it to the people of Ireland. It should put it to the country. There is nothing to be afraid of. At all times, the people of Ireland have given their opinions on the different referendums put before them and we in this Chamber duly had to recognise the voice of the people. That is what we have waited for here. Back in 2013, then Deputy Micheál Martin - he is now our Taoiseach - suggested we could not or would not get rid of the triple lock.”
“The Government had no problem paying for this but it will not do the same for its own here. I am not saying they should not have got it but the Irish people should get the very same as whoever comes here from wherever they are coming and they deserve that. In a democracy, this is what we would expect. I ask the Government to look at something like this to see if it would release some of the vacant houses all across our towns, villages and in the countryside. The Government is doing nothing to incentivise people to get into the rental market. I do not think the Minister and the Minister of State are listening but that is the way with them. They did not listen before and they will pay a higher price if they do not listen again.”
“We have asked the Government several times to rescind it and change it. We hope that it will do so with the new planning rules but I am worried because when the Government is going to do something, there are rumours that it is going to happen. These people are asking for nothing from the Government only permission to be allowed to build a house for themselves. They have their own funding and they will do it themselves. They will borrow and they are prepared to do whatever they need to do but we have been giving them no hearing for the past number of years. It is a very simple thing. To go back to renting houses, it was no bother in the world for the Government of the day to pay €600 or €800 to Ukrainians who came here. There was no problem with this.”
“Then there is the situation where people would build a house for themselves if they could get planning permission for it. In Kerry, many people will not get planning permission because of a rule that the planning authority goes by, this urban-generated rule that prevents them getting planning permission to put a roof over their heads. They are asking for no funding, no nothing only permission to be allowed build their houses. That is another thing that is happening. All along our national routes, the secondary routes and the national primary routes, people cannot access if they are coming out of even a public right of way that is not in the charge of Kerry County Council. They are not allowed to come out. We have asked about this several times. The former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, put that rule in place in 2012 when he was Minister.”
“There is a pile of vacant houses there and I asked the Government to incentivise people to rent them rather than forcing people to do things. Incentivisation was the way to go. The Minister realises that the landlord pays 50% tax on the rent he gets. If people are renting out their houses for less than €1,000 a month, they are paying half of that back in tax. It becomes not worth their while to rent the house in situations like that. So much could be done to incentivise people to rent their houses and there are so many houses vacant. I will say it again because I do not know whether the Minister and the Minister of State are listening to me or not. If they do not, it is their own business. They do not seem to listen to this story anyway because I have asked many times before and they did not.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for this very important motion. I was against the rule the Minister brought in a number of months ago from 1 March that people would have to rent their houses out for six years. The news that was coming drove many people out of the market. Since some time early last year, many people have come to me who were after getting their notice to quit and their hearts were broken because they did not know where to go. It was hurtful. That was the reason. I voted against that because I feel very strongly about democratic rights. I always believed that if someone owns a house, if they bought it, if they got it or if their name was on the deed of it, they were entitled to do what they wanted to do with it.”
“It must start on the ground, and maybe people do not like talking about sewage, but we cannot build houses if we do not have waste treatment plants and if places like Kenmare are still waiting for water. These are the things that have to be dealt with and have to be funded. I appeal to the Government again from this seat here, and I have been directing my requests across the Chamber since I came up here in 2016. I am asking for this funding. The other thing I am asking for is to clear out our rivers. Our rivers are overshadowed by trees, and salmon or trout will not thrive in them. I am asking that the rivers be cleaned out like was always done. That is why the fish numbers are depleting. We need to start doing those things.”
“Villages like Scartaglin and Currow are all very close to each other and they have no treatment plants. Scartaglin has none and Currow just has a holding tank, which is drawn out of constantly to the treatment plant in Killarney. Moyvane is a satellite village of Tralee, and not another house can be built there because the sewerage system will not take an extra house as it is over capacity. Many of our towns and villages need improvements in this regard. There are 32 or 33 now on a list to be dealt with. That will not happen without funding, and Irish Water will not have access to funding unless the Government gives it to the company. I am appealing to the Government now.”
“I just want to inform Deputy Heneghan that I welcomed four young hares into my field the other morning. They were grand specimens. I thank the local community groups, the Tidy Towns committees and the rural development companies for the great work they do enhancing our environment around all our towns and villages in the county of Kerry. We are facing a massive challenge with our wastewater treatment plants. Our local authorities and Irish Water have been starved of funding to deal with these plants. We have towns in Kerry that are over capacity. Castleisland has been looking for an extension to its treatment plant for 40 years. I found documents belonging to my father in the garage, where he was working on it. One third of the town is dealt with using septic tanks. The Minister of State knows this is not the way to go.”
“I am giving it the chance to put this Bill forward to see whether it will help us because we are in a desperate way. People who need planning are waiting far too long. It is time to do something about it. This has been promised for a long time and I hope it works. I hope, for the Government’s sake, that it works.”
“People appreciate the last half or quarter mile to their door. We can do all the motorways and national primary and secondary roads but the road to the door should also be good. The people of Kerry and rural Ireland are entitled to a road to their door every bit as much as the people in Dublin 4. I cannot and will not support this amendment tonight. We have been waiting for so long. There are judicial reviews, analysing and scrutinising and we are paying environmental objectors money each year to object to projects. That is the actual truth of it. You could not build a hen house now anywhere without some fella putting in an objection, and he could be 100 miles away. I am glad to get this opportunity. I will support the Government on this. If it does not work, then I hope I will be back here telling the Government that it is not working.”
“There are villages without any treatment plant like Scartaglen and Curragh where the sewage is being drawn into Killarney. It is the same story in Beaufort where the sewage is being drawn into Killarney. We have all these places without any treatment plants. We must find the best way to hurry these things along. Uisce Éireann has a lot of work to do but we cannot be seen to be holding it up inside this Chamber with debates as to whether it should be Beaufort or Brosna or some place in Limerick or Cork. We are behind in so many ways now. For a country that is first to bring in every type of new regulation, we are behind with many of the critical infrastructure projects that are needed. Even when it comes to the basic local improvement scheme, LIS, we are way behind in Kerry, with some 560 to 570 roads on the LIS.”
“I am glad to get the opportunity to say a few words on this Bill. I will give the Government the benefit of the doubt because, for too long, this country has been starved of infrastructure. We are strangled and tied down and I cannot see the benefit of this amendment by insisting that we are to go through this Chamber. I realise all the different political views that different Members have from different counties. We would finish up without agreement on anything important that we need for our counties. Each of us would be fighting our corner, which we would be well entitled to do. For my part, Kerry has been starved of an awful lot of infrastructure. For instance, in Kenmare, we have no public water supply at the present time. Many towns and villages have inadequate treatment plants.”
“There are many couples in the country and, indeed, in the world who would love to have a baby, and when they cannot, at least to be able to adopt one. I cannot agree with this Bill. I am sorry, but I have my own personal beliefs. I think the baby is entitled to a chance to get a shot at this world.”
“I have listened to this debate continuously this morning. Indeed, I remember it so well eight and nine years ago. I suppose I have to say I am pro life and I think that when a baby is born, it is the most majestic, natural and beautiful thing in the world. I am lucky that, in my time, Eileen and I have had six children, and now we have eight grandchildren. We have to think of the baby in the situation they are in and we have to talk about them. I believe they have a right to live, and to wait three more days to give the mother a chance to reflect on her position is not too long to wait. That is my honest, humble belief. I have nothing personal against the proposers of this motion but I cannot agree with or subscribe to it.”
“People could not go on a week's holiday last summer because they had no place to get their parent, or in some cases a brother and a sister, into. I am asking for special attention for Killarney because we have waited long enough.”