The row came about over the Road Traffic Bill that Shane Ross has been trying to move through the Dáil.
Shane Ross and Mattie McGrath became embroiled in a heated debate in the Dáil canteen over the Tipperary TD’s delaying – along with a number of other rural deputies – of Ross’s Road Traffic Bill, according to a report in The Irish Times.
Ross, the Minister for Transport, cornered McGrath in the Dáil canteen, calling him “a bollocks” and, worse again, an “out and out bollocks”.
He refrained from going ‘full John Waters‘, however.
Ross went on to claim that McGrath, one of a number of TDs accused of filibustering the initiative, was determined to “block every fucking thing I do”.
McGrath went to argue with his colleague but was calmed down by his daughter, with whom he was eating at the time.
“I suspect I may have called Mattie even worse in recent weeks over his filibustering,” Ross told The Irish Times afterwards.
Should it pass, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill will see first time offenders banned from driving for three months if they are caught with blood-alcohol levels of between 50 milligrams/100 millilitres and 80 milligrams/100 millilitres.
The Bill, which the minister had hoped would come before the Dáil this week, would also see greater penalties thrust on car owners who allow unaccompanied learner drivers on the road, while also allowing for the seizure of cars used by solo learner permit holders.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
