The Independent TD has taken major issue with the new traffic legislation.
The new Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill was facing opposition from a small number of vocal TDs, which is currently before the Dáil, and one of the biggest voices against it is Danny Healy-Rae.
He took a stand against the bill, which will introduce a mandatory driving ban for a first drink driving offence if a motorist has a blood alcohol level of above 50 milligrams/100 millilitres.
Currently first time offenders with between 50 mg and 80 mg/100 ml receive a fine and penalty points.
Here is Healy-Rae’s response to Shane Ross’s new legislation, via RTE News:
WATCH: Independent TD @DannyHealyRae accuses @Shane_RossTD of “paralysing people in rural Ireland”… “People will have to stay inside at home. They will be like rabbits inside in a burrow. If the fox or the terrier is around they will be afraid to peep out…” pic.twitter.com/JhLfQVlUku
— RTÉ Politics (@rtepolitics) April 24, 2018
“It is sad to think that the farmer coming home from the market, he can’t come into the pub now to have one pint or maybe a pint and a half-pint… he won’t be able to come into the pub to have a pint and a half-pint, to tell people what he got for his animals, or how the day went for him.
“All of that will be gone, people will have to stay inside at home. They will be like rabbits inside in a burrow. If the fox or the terrier is around they will be afraid to peep out, because some fella like you will be outside.
“This is no laughing matter, Minister. This is what you’re doing to people in rural Ireland. You’re paralysing them. You’re isolating them, and you’re treating them like dirt, Minister.
“This is hurtful, and I can tell you Minister, because they’ll you themselves, they hate you down there, and they’ll never forgive you for what you’re doing to them.”
Additionally, the Irish Times reports Healy-Rae stated that “No one in the 50 mg per 100 ml to 80 mg per 100 ml (blood alcohol) bracket caused a fatality.”
“I certainly don’t condone drunk driving but a pint and a half pint never made anybody drunk and that’s the truth Minister.”
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