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Irish Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Miriam's Lord's Week: The gang's (almost) all here for the Healy-Rae hooley
Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae held a big hooley in Leinster House on Thursday for his general election team to thank them for helping him top the poll yet again in Kerry and return in triumph to the Dáil. About 100 people headed up from the Kingdom to enjoy a lunch 'hosted by Minister Michael Healy-Rae'. There was no mention on the printed menu of his brother Danny, the second member of team Healy-Rae to retain a seat in the constituency. There were drinks in the bar before the guests moved down the corridor to the Members' Restaurant, where they dined on roast chicken supreme with summer pea and asparagus cream, gratin potatoes and a medley of vegetables. READ MORE Dessert was caramelised lemon tartlet with a meringue crumb. At the end of the meal, Michael went into the kitchens and emerged with a birthday cake for team member Tom O'Shea from Waterville, who had just turned 70. The group brought it up from Maloney's cake shop in Castleisland and it was gorgeous. Earlier, they toured the House and popped into the Dáil and the Seanad, where the Cathaoirleach, Kerryman Mark Daly, made sure to mention them. 'They are guests of Danny and Michael Healy-Rae. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann. I hope they have an enjoyable day in Dublin and we'll all be back up the weekend after next for another enjoyable day in Dublin, please God, and we'll be bringing Sam Maguire back home.' [ Man who pleaded guilty to electoral fraud worked for Healy-Rae company, Fine Gael senator claims Opens in new window ] Danny didn't attend the lunch. The Healy-Rae contingent wasn't in the chamber when Kerry-based Labour Senator Tim Kennelly told the Upper House under Seanad privilege that a man who pleaded guilty in Kenmare District Court to election fraud worked for a plant-hire company owned by the family of Danny Healy-Rae. When contacted by The Irish Times on Thursday, Danny Healy-Rae said: 'I have no comment.' Who rubbed out Jack Lynch's pipe? Decades of political memory and experience, valued service to the State, grudges and begrudgery, huffs, cute-hoorism and hissy-fits all come together when the Irish Association of Former Parliamentarians meets in Leinster House. More than 50 blasts from the recent and distant past gathered last Friday for the association's agm, held this year in the airy confines of Fianna Fáil's parliamentary party rooms on the fifth floor. Guest speaker on the day was former president Mary McAleese, who gave a talk on her time in the Áras which included some fascinating detail on Queen Elizabeth's historic State visit in 2011. There was no discussion about who might fill her successor's shoes when his time is up in November. The large contingent of former Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators were also fascinated by a long-standing feature of the party room: the line of framed photographs of former leaders. They recalled the black-and-white portraits from their own days at parliamentary meetings. After the 2011 election, when the party had to give way to Enda Kenny and swap its fifth-floor penthouse for Fine Gael's dark and stuffy meeting room in the basement, the pictures came too. 'From as far back as I can remember, the leaders always started with De Valera and they ended with the most recent person,' said a former FF Oireachtas member. 'Left to right, Dev first. But now, it's the other way around. Micheál Martin is first and Dev is kinda last. Oh, and Micheál is the only one in colour.' But that wasn't the real talking point. 'We were looking at the row of photos and something wasn't quite right. Something was missing. Then somebody twigged it was Jack Lynch. Jack always had a pipe. Always,' recalled our former parliamentarian. 'This was a new picture of Jack Lynch and he no longer has the pipe. Suppose we can't be doing with that sort of thing these days. So Jack's trademark pipe has been airbrushed from history. Honest to God. It's gone.' Wonder if the other Cork Taoiseach knows about this – the current full-colour incumbent who introduced the world's first workplace smoking ban in 2004? Classic Micheál, if you ask us. Soc Dems turn 10 Social policy professor turned Social Democrat TD Rory Hearne plays senior hurling on the housing crisis in the Dáil, and to unwind he has returned to junior hurling with his local club, Whitehall Colmcilles. The Dublin North-West TD is enjoying the game so much he decided to organise an end-of-term cross-party GAA knockabout for colleagues in Leinster House. There are regular rugby and soccer matches between Oireachtas members but Gaelic games haven't had much of a look-in. A small but enthusiastic group assembled in the grounds of Trinity College Dublin, where their host, Provost Linda Doyle, watched the politicians thrash about in the rain in the name of sport. They attempted a game of football as well as the hurling. Dublin legend Michael Darragh Macauley, along with Cormac Donohoe of the Dublin Masters team, tried to keep some semblance of shape on the proceedings. 'The only thing at stake was our dignity,' says Rory. 'There were no results. We decided to call everything a draw.' Among the politicians lining out were Fine Gael TDs Joe Neville (Kildare North), Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim), Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford), Sinn Féin's Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth) and Darren O'Rourke (Meath-East), Labour's Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South-West) and Marie Sherlock (Dublin-Central), Fianna Fáil's Peter 'Chap' Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny) and Kerry Labour Senator Mike Kennelly. TDs line out for a hurling match at Trinity College Dublin: 'The only thing at stake was our dignity' Now that they've established themselves, the players hope more TDs and Senators will sign up for a charity match they have planned for September, hopefully in Croke Park. Meanwhile, Hearne got back to Leinster House in time for the family photo with his fellow Soc Dems as the party marked 10 years since its foundation in 2015. Its three founding members have since left national politics. Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy retired at the last election and Stephen Donnelly, who defected to Fianna Fáil and was minister for health in the last government, lost his Dáil seat in November. He didn't join his erstwhile co-leaders at a celebratory dinner with the parliamentary party in the Members' Restaurant on Wednesday night. Stephen isn't totally out of the loop – he was in Glenties on Friday as one of the guest speakers at the MacGill Summer school, Ireland's Glastonbury for political anoraks. He was in good spirits, thanking his host for correctly identifying him as the former minister for health and not the current leader of Aontú. Former minister for health Stephen Donnelly and Jess Majekodunmi, managing director of human sciences studio at Accenture, at the MacGill Summer School. Photograph: North West Newspix 'I've had three people over the last 24 hours kind of look at me, put out the hand and go: 'It's Peadar Tóibín, isn't it!' So for any of you here who are still wondering, no, it isn't. Yes, we do look a little alike – he's a good-looking chap, nobody will take that from him ... but I'm not Peadar Tóibín.' And for good measure, he also stressed that he isn't the economist Dan O'Brien, the other person he is frequently mistaken for. Speaking of Donegal, we wrote last week about the Blaney family's 100 years of unbroken service at local level. A reader has been in touch to point out that they may well have sat on Donegal County Council since 1925 but, like all the other county councils, it was founded by the local government reforms of 1899. We, er, knew that. Horrible histories Congratulations to Sinn Féin's Chief Whip and spokesperson on fisheries and the marine who had some good news to announce on Wednesday. 'I have been appointed to be the convener of the Ireland-Norway Parliamentary Friendship Group by the Ceann Comhairle,' wrote Pádraig Mac Lochlainn in an email to all Oireachtas members. 'There is so much that we can learn from the Norwegian people, particularly how they have maximised the potential of the seas alongside them to create huge wealth and prosperity for their coastal communities. 'The connections between Ireland and Norway go back as far as the ninth century,' he added, inviting all TDs and Senators to contact him if they want to join the new friendship group. That's nice. Fair play to the Vikings. Not like those horrible Normans, who were descendants of Vikings and left behind a lot of historical baggage here too. Only last May, Pádraig's party colleague Aengus Ó Snodaigh was blasting the Government for approving plans for Ireland to participate in the Year of the Normans initiative along with other European countries. He said the proposal to celebrate the birth 1,000 years ago of England's first Norman King, William the Conqueror, whose successors subjugated Ireland, was 'offensive'. It was 'scraping the barrel of colonialism, imperialism and English royalism for themed tourism'. Mind you, conquest, pillage and rape was all the rage more than 1,000 years ago when the Scandinavian marauders established significant settlements around ancient Ireland and parts of Normandy. We hope Pádraig consulted Aengus about our ninth-century 'connections' with Norway before joining the friendship group. Bastille Day bash Liberté! Égalité! Fraternité! Buckets of Rosé! One of the last embassy garden parties of the summer diplomatic season was held at the French ambassador's residence on Monday night. The magnificent late 19th-century pile on Ailesbury Road has just reopened after a lengthy renovation. More than 1,200 guests joined Her Excellency Céline Place in her 1.75-acre back garden for the annual Bastille Day celebrations. All the political parties were represented. The Shinners were there, making a beeline for the ice-cream van when they arrived. They must have been happy to get out. They don't attend the UK embassy party and they had to boycott one of their favourite ones – the US ambassador's Fourth of July bash because of the US's stance on Gaza. Labour and the Social Democrats also snubbed Uncle Sam this year, although the members of Independent Ireland were happy to attend. They all came together to toast La République (proposed in a proud Cavan accent by Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam) and Ireland (proposed by the ambassador) and to hear Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill deliver a speech in fluent French. It was most impressive. There wasn't a frog's leg or a piece of fromage in sight but the wine flowed and waiters patrolling the lawns with magnums of Whispering Angel rosé were in great demand. Somehow, the denizens of Leinster House managed to regroup for their end-of-term parties on Wednesday night before the Dáil and Seanad rose on Thursday for the summer recess. They'll be back in mid-September.
Irish Times
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Minister for Health makes emergency intervention after Taoiseach's joke ripples through the House
The Taoiseach put on his 'I'm going to say something funny now' face, the one where he smirks to himself because he knows he is just about to knock 'em all dead with a hilarious one-liner. He folded his arms tightly around his chest, giving himself a happy hug in advance of what he was about to say. Danny Healy-Rae had just made an impassioned plea on behalf of publicans in the village of Killorglin, Co Kerry. Fourteen of them recently applied to the District Court for an exemption to stay open until 3am during Puck Fair , but the judge permitted them to serve until only 2am. Outrageous carry on. Danny Healy-Rae was incensed. READ MORE Puck Fair has been going on in the Kerry village for more than 400 years, he told the Dáil. 'It has survived many obstacles – bad times, good times and it even survived Joe Duffy's attack on the goat.' Just to be clear, Joe Duffy didn't physically attack the wild goat, which is captured and crowned King of Killorglin for the duration of the three-day festival. The recently retired broadcaster merely facilitated some very heated Liveline phone-ins about the welfare of the goat during its short stint in captivity. Having risen above many setbacks, Danny hopes the festival will survive the docking of an hour off pub closing time. The publicans are set to appeal to the Circuit Court. So Killorglin only gets to serve until 2am on two nights during Puck Fair in August, 'yet we have to listen constantly about requests here in Dublin to open Dublin until six in the morning', complained Danny. What they are saying above in Dublin is, 'they want to bring back the night'. Puck Fair is an event where people come to meet each other once a year, or maybe only once every three or four years, he said. It seems the reason gardaí objected to a 3am finish was pressure on resources. 'Are Garda resources under so much pressure that we can't afford an extra hour each night until three o'clock to maintain the tradition that we've had in Killorglin? 'Twas open all night, you know, one time, Taoiseach.' Then Danny looked directly across at the Government front bench and did his bit for Kerry tourism. 'And seeing as ye are there now, I am inviting ye all to Puck Fair – the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice, the Chief Whip and yourself, Ceann Comhairle. Ye are all welcome to Puck.' Micheál Martin got giddy at the prospect of everyone being welcome to Puck in Kerry. But on the subject of extending drinking hours and granting exemptions, he seemed to be suggesting a somewhat dodgy solution. 'There were many times in Kerry, apparently, when there were many lock-ins,' he said, cryptically, his voice trailing off. Not that he'd know anything about the type of things which might have happened at wild Fianna Fáil functions in the days before green tea. Nor, one assumes, was he saying that the good publicans of Killorglin should take the law into their own hands by allowing after-hours drinking. Perish the thought, and with the Minister for Justice sitting right beside him. Anyway, Micheál was about to unleash his funny gag. He smiled to himself, folded his arms and focused on Danny, who was all ears. 'I'd say you've outdone Leo Varadkar in terms of nightlife and you're extolling the virtues of going the whole way, like the whole night long, like you know …' What was he on about? 'Going the whole way … the whole night long, like you know.' Where was he going with this? Chief Whip Mary Butler, seated directly behind the Taoiseach, looked a little puzzled. Bellowing Danny was momentarily silenced. The Minister for Health made an emergency intervention. 'What?' she hissed loudly from stage left. Jennifer Carroll McNeill is not a woman easily shocked, but like the rest of us, she was probably wondering where Micheál was headed with his meandering line about knowing the virtues of going the whole way for the whole night long. Could Mary Lou McDonald be about to enter the presidential race? Listen | 41:13 The Taoiseach, delighted with himself, was oblivious until he got that little nudge from her and, suddenly, he realised what he had been saying. He turned, stricken, and stuttered to Jennifer about going the whole way 'in terms of nightlife, like!' as his voice went up higher and his accent went full Cork. 'Jaysus,' he chuckled. 'Bí curamach anois!' Telling himself as Gaelige to be careful now. 'So the big issue is drinking 'til 2am. It's the first time it's ever been presented to me in the Dáil like this: that you actually want us to go to 3am,' he continued, but now being ultra careful. 'Well, not me,' he hastily added. No. Not that anyone was thinking that. We were still back with Varadkar making a night of it. 'Until 6am, actually,' observed Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh. Danny was on his feet and roaring again. The Taoiseach was trying to talk. It was like closing time at Puck Fair. 'Taoiseach, your time is up,' called landlady Verona Murphy, or the Ceann Comhairle as she is also known, banging her bell and telling Danny to sit down. Things were getting a bit rowdy. Have they no homes to go to? 'Look it,' said Micheál, ignoring landlady Verona who was doing her best to maintain an orderly house and addressing Danny. 'I've the Minister for Justice alongside of me. He's heard your pleas.' Pleas to come down to Killorglin for the festival or try to do something to make sure the publicans get their extra hour when their appeal is heard? Jim O'Callaghan nodded away. Although it is most unlikely that Senior Counsel Jim is going to hotfoot it down to Killarney or Tralee Circuit Court any day soon to sort out a late exemption. 'He knows what the place is like,' murmured Danny, mysteriously. The Taoiseach had some good news for him about the Minister. 'He's undertaken to go down to the Puck Fair, okay?' We didn't see Jim being consulted on this, but he looked happy enough. 'I will see what I can do to attend as well, but I may not be around at that time,' added Micheál, deftly mapping his escape route. As it turns out, O'Callaghan has strong family links to the Kingdom and is very proud of his Kerry connections. His father, Jerry, came from Callaghans Cross just outside Castleisland. This is the sort of fact Danny Healy-Rae would most certainly know. Although nobody knows if Big Jim or Danny will be 'going the whole way – like, the whole night long' at Puck Fair until three in the morning this year. That's for the court to decide.
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
‘Repulsive'; ‘obscene'; ‘genocide': Dáil voices rise in unison over Israel's slaughter in Gaza
Slaughter, streaming now on your chosen platform. 'Innocent children, they don't know what's going on, starving with the hunger ... This is reality, this is what's happening in front of our eyes and we can see that on the news every morning, noon and night, and worse and worse it's getting,' said Danny Healy-Rae. Annihilation, as it happens. 'We are witnessing a genocide being live-streamed on our hand-held device,' said Labour's Eoghan Kenny. READ MORE The destruction is undeniable. We see it every day. 'One of the greatest crimes against humanity is playing out before our eyes in real time,' said Sinn Féin's Mairéad Farrell. Speaker after speaker, making the same point during three hours of Dáil statements on the unfolding catastrophe in Gaza. How can this be happening when the obscene reality is there for all to see? How can the Israeli government escalate its eradication crusade in Gaza while the big western powers hang back and look on? In angry, heartfelt contributions, TDs held out little hope that this week's harrowing scenes of children starving to death would deflect Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu from his remorseless campaign against the Palestinian people. If the world's increasingly flaky bulwarks of democracy won't act, this doesn't mean that Ireland cannot make a stand. There was understandable consensus when it came to condemning Israel for its campaign of genocide in Gaza. Nobody quibbled with the use of the word. The differences came in the interpretation of what has been done and what should be done to force Netanyahu to end the war. The Government pointed to the lead it has taken internationally when most of its EU partners have been dragging their heels. The Opposition, while acknowledging the actions taken by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris, accused them of doing too little too late. But given the sheer horror of what the suffering innocents are enduring in Gaza, the lengthy Dáil session didn't descend into the usual political tit-for-tat. Apart, that is, from an unnecessary swipe at the Taoiseach early on from Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald, who talked about her party's Bill to end the sale of Israeli war bonds through the Central Bank. It's an 'obscenity' completely at odds with Ireland's position on humanitarian standards and international law. 'And yet, when I raised this with the Taoiseach yesterday, his response was to call our legislation repulsive,' said Mary Lou. 'That's the word he used.' Micheál Martin swiftly intervened to reject the assertion. 'What is truly repulsive is allowing the Irish Central Bank to oversee the sale of Israeli war bonds that are funding this genocide,' she replied. Micheál wasn't letting this go. 'The Deputy is misleading the House. That's not right, now.' Mary Lou moved on. If his Government is really sincere and serious about 'ending the clear barbarism we watch every day in Gaza', it will back their Bill. Micheál repeated his objection. 'I said no such thing,' he said, in a quiet, level voice. Given the seriousness of the debate it was not good enough for her to 'falsely make that assertion. I did not say that and you know I did not say that. I would ask you to withdraw it.' The Leas-Cheann Comhairle turned to Mary Lou. Well? 'I cannot withdraw it because the record of this House will reflect the fact that the word that was used across the Chamber to me was the word 'repulsive'. Check back on it, persisted the Taoiseach. 'Because you said the Government was funding a genocide and I said that phrase was morally repugnant. At no stage did I say the tabling of legislation in respect of the Central Bank was repulsive,' he said, addressing Mary Lou slowly, asking her again to withdraw her words. 'You know that. Why did you conflate the two to make a false statement?' She turned to the chair. 'Sorry. Why is the Taoiseach using our speaking time with this nonsense?' Micheál wanted that withdrawal. 'I am not withdrawing it,' insisted the Sinn Féin leader. 'It was a smear, it was a smear against me.' 'I am not withdrawing a remark that you made.' The Leas-Cheann Comhairle moved on. 'We'll leave it at that.' 'No sincerity,' murmured the Taoiseach. So, what happened the previous day? During Questions on Policy or Legislation, Mary Lou spoke about the slaughter in Gaza and her party's forthcoming legislation about Israeli war bonds. 'What people might not know is that the Irish Government has made Ireland complicit in funding this genocide,' because the Central Bank oversees the sale of these bonds which are directly used to fund Israel's war against Hamas. 'Taoiseach, work with us. Ireland cannot be complicit any longer in genocide.' [ Air strikes kill dozens in Gaza as international criticism of Israel grows ] He said what is happening to innocent civilians in Gaza 'is beyond any moral compass' and it was 'very regrettable' that she would say the Irish Government is funding genocide. 'I can't really comprehend why you say things like that. I would argue you do it for politics but it smacks of that only. It lacks sincerity ... But I think it's fundamentally wrong of you actually to take the tack that you're taking. 'I find it morally repulsive as well.' Mary Lou was right in one thing – he did use the word 'repulsive'. But it was fairly clear that Micheál was angered by the suggestion his Government was facilitating genocide as opposed to Sinn Féin tabling a Bill. But for the most part, this lengthy session was memorable for a strong show of unity from across the political spectrum against the reprehensible war crimes being perpetrated on defenceless babies in Gaza. Yes, there were strong speeches from the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, but the depth of feeling from TDs of all stripes was compelling. All of them, including Coalition TDs, called for more action from Ireland as they denounced the Israeli government – not the Israeli people. There were many passionate speeches. Netanyahu 'has shown himself to be a monstrous leader and his government a monstrous authority', said the former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl. Not only have they slaughtered women and children in Gaza, but they have done much damage to their own country. 'The State of Israel has a right to exist. I respect and love the Jewish people but I deplore, detest and reject Netanyahu and his people.' Deputies condemned the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas for the unspeakable atrocities it committed on Jews in a raid on Israel two years ago which led to the war. But, as Fine Gael TD Barry Walsh said, their 'barbaric and disgusting' action does not justify what is happening in Gaza now. 'It is murder, pure and simple,' said Independent TD Paul Gogarty, shouting the number 'fourteen thousand' at the top of his voice. That awful figure, repeated time and again in the House. The number of babies who may die from malnutrition by the weekend. 'It appears that things have got so horrific that even the EU may be waking up,' he said. It was late in the afternoon, a good two hours into the statements, when Galway-based Independent Catherine Connolly rose to speak. 'I've attended many, many protests, as all my colleagues have done, and there was a time when I was most uncomfortable with the chant that Israel is a terrorist state ... I have no such reluctance now, and I'm ashamed that I wasn't comfortable with that, because Israel is a terrorist state. 'It's out of control. It's a rogue state, and it's got that far because it has done everything with immunity from the big powers that be, including Europe, America and many, many other countries,' she said. But what she heard in the chamber was heartening. 'You know, the speeches that were made today by the backbenchers were wonderful. They were absolutely wonderful. I was near to tears with the passion,' she said. 'I wish they had made those speeches earlier when we were appealing to you to stop Israel with getting away with impunity. 'And we're here today, now, and we're looking at 14,000 children about to die in the next 48 hours.' Unimaginable. 'And words. What words will we now use? We have set the lowest bar for telling ourselves we're very good.' She talked of troops allowed through Shannon. Of increased trading. Of the failure to enact the Occupied Territories Bill. 'And we learn now tomorrow, in the face of 14,000 children about to die, that a memo is going to go to Government. 'Shame comes to mind, embarrassment, but most of all, let's act and show leadership.' During her speech, she held up a printed statement. 'And we're here today, and we've just learned that a delegation from 22 countries in the EU over looking at the refugee camp in West Bank has been shot at, and we're told that the delegation deviated from the route. The only deviant here is Israel. They have deviated from international law.' Then word came that two of those delegates – the State's representative in Palestine Feilim McLaughlin and his deputy Sorcha Lowry – are Irish. And the real time everyone was talking about came just that little bit closer.
Irish Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Driving test ‘amnesty' ruled out for experienced learners
Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney has ruled out an 'amnesty' for experienced learner drivers to allow them to drive unaccompanied until they are called for a test. But he said 'all options' are under consideration to address the backlog in waiting lists. 'The service is not right and it needs to be rectified.' Independent Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae made the call as he pointed to the increasing waiting times for learners in his Kerry constituency, now averaging 23.5 weeks. Mr Healy-Rae said it is particularly difficult in rural areas 'where there is no public transport option. Driving is the only option. Many young people cannot take up job offers, apprenticeships or college courses as they would have to have a parent, or brother, sister or grandparent to drive them to and from wherever they need to go, with their L-plates displayed.' READ MORE The target maximum waiting time for tests is 10 weeks and Mr Healy-Rae said if the Road Safety Authority (RSA) cannot meet that, 'surely the candidate who has done the driver theory test, the 12 lessons and all that is required, should be allowed to drive and given an amnesty until the test comes'. Mr Canney said 'I hear the Deputy's suggestion of giving an amnesty but under current regulations and rules that may not be feasible. 'I assure the Deputy all options are being considered to help to address the backlog that is there.' Sanction was given in September last year for an additional 70 permanent driver testers which would double the number to 200 by the end of the year, and the first tranche are now being deployed into service. Mr Healy-Rae who raised the matter as a topical issue said: 'Holy God, where are the 70 testers.' He raised the same issue a year ago and 'the situation is getting worse day by day'. During transport questions, Fianna Fáil Clare TD Cathal Crowe said there was 'no shortage' of driving instructors and suggested they could be seconded to conduct tests as part of efforts to cut waiting times. The Minister said that 'nothing is off the table. In the past we have used private instructors.' He had met the RSA last week and instructed the authority to return in two weeks 'with sustainable proposals which will provide a faster resumption to the service level agreement of 10 weeks'. [ Learner drivers paying for internet 'bots' to 'game' driving test application system Opens in new window ] Fine Gael Cork North-West TD John Paul O'Shea asked about driver tests in Cork and said that 20,000 people are waiting for tests in the county. He cited the case of a constituent starting an apprenticeship in September who would not be able to commute to work because he cannot get a test date. Fine Gael Cork North-Central TD Colm Burke said a constituent was given a December 22nd date from an application this week, while another was given a January 5th 2026 date, which was 'outrageous'. He said there 'appears to be no plan' to deal with the problem and 'it will probably take about three years but a clear plan should be set out'. The Minister said he understood people's frustrations and that every TD had similar cases. He cited a constituent in his Galway East constituency whose son had had his test postponed eight times. He said the number of testers in Cork rose from 9 to 16 and will increase to 18 by end of year. The Minister also hit out at 'no-show' cases, where last year more than 8,000 applicants did not cancel their test but failed to turn up. 'It is very selfish of people not to show,' given the demand for tests, he said. As the crisis intensifies it emerged that some Irish drivers are understood to be travelling to Georgia for tests following a licence exchange agreement with the Central European country in June last year. The RSA said 'a person taking up residence in Ireland cannot drive on a Georgian driving licence for any period of time and must exchange it immediately if they wish to drive in Ireland. 'The Georgian driving licence authorities may have residency requirements to be satisfied before they issue the driving licence.'
