Following the passage of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill, which was signed into law some weeks ago, I am asking where the extra LocalLink bus services are that were promised during the passage of the Bill. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, succeeded in getting Fine Gael to support the Bill in return for his support for the Fine Gael-led Government. Sinn Féin was readily on hand to give its support. The Fianna Fáil leadership thought it was best to do the same as Sinn Féin. Finally, what happened was that 75 Deputies voted for the Bill, 75 abstained and eight of us voted against. Only myself and Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, of the five Deputies in Kerry, voted against the Minister's Bill.

Last summer, the Minister, Deputy Ross, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Griffin, and Deputy Heydon announced some small amount of LocalLink services aid for Kerry. That is not enough for all of Kerry. The people of the Black Valley and such places need more, as do the people from around Cahersiveen, Waterville, Glencar and Beaufort. These places are remote and far away from anywhere. We need more transport services there and likewise in east Kerry, including in Gneeveguilla, Scartaglin and Currow.

Will he provide more bus transport services in these areas? It is a different story in Dublin where many forms of transport are available. This is true of other greater urban areas throughout the country, but it is a different story in places such as County Kerry. The social fabric of rural Ireland has been blown to smithereens. People who need a car to get from A to B cannot even have one pint. Who is ordering all of the checkpoints? Is it the Taoiseach; the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan; or the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross? People are being checked in going to and coming from mass. I am not blaming An Garda Síochána or individual superintendents because it is occurring across divisions and county boundaries. Does the Minister, Deputy Ross, now also want to close churches, as well as post offices?

Hopefully.

As he has closed almost everything else, I will not be surprised to hear he also wants to close the churches of rural Ireland. Many people are very angry and upset about what has happened. They feel they have been let down and that they cannot move. They are isolated. Bars are empty and closing on a regular basis. Shops and restaurants located beside them are also closing. Having two pints was the only social outlet for many. They met in pubs to talk about farming, work or football, inquire about the health of neighbours or relatives who perhaps lived far away, or have an ordinary or usual conversation. The culture of rural people is being blown to smithereens at the behest of the Government in its quest to satisfy the Minister, Deputy Ross.

We should not forget that the purpose of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018 is to save lives. It used to be the case that 600 or 700 people died on the roads every year. The figure is now between 100 and 200, which is still 100 or 200 too many. We have both met the families of people who were killed on the road. The Deputy knows how the loss of a loved one on the road hurts a whole family and how families grieve. It is particularly the case at this time of year when people are thinking about the empty space around the dinner table. That is the purpose of road traffic legislation. We do not seek to discommode people or make their lives difficult. We want to make the roads safer. Roads in rural Ireland are still less safe, for many reasons. Most deaths on the roads occur in rural areas. The roads in urban areas are now much safer.

The extra bus services were pressed for by Deputy Hayden and other Deputies, in co-operation with the Minister, Deputy Ross. A call for funding was made. Counties made bids for funding, with some bidding for more and some for less. The new services are now in place throughout the country. It will never be possible to provide a service from house to door, village or pub or to replace all of the journeys people could take if they could use their car. However, it is possible to provide better bus services. There was a competitive call and different amounts went to different counties. I have no doubt that there will be further calls for funding in the future.

I am glad to hear that there has been an increase in the number of Garda checkpoints and that the Deputy has noticed them throughout the country. We should not forget why they are needed. It is to check for people who might have consumed alcohol or drugs who might injure or kill another citizen. It is to check to see whether vehicles are taxed and insured. They help to intercept and disrupt networks of burglars in travelling around the country to break into people's homes, take their possessions and sometimes occasion real harm. They help to disrupt anyone involved in a criminal enterprise. It is good that there are more Garda checkpoints. It is a reflection of the fact that just last week the strength of An Garda Síochána exceeded 14,000 for the first time since 2012 when the Garda College in Templemore was reopened and we started to recruit gardaí again. The force now has more 14,000 members which people will notice while on the roads and in the streets. The Garda presence will be much more visible and people will feel safer.

Thankfully, the number of road deaths has gone down owning to myriad factors, including speed cameras and better roads.

We will, however, continue to have deaths because of the state of roads, with trees hanging out over them and falling on people. People are being killed while cycling and walking because roads are not adequate for use by pedestrians late at night. People are also being killed while riding motorcycles. I am still asking the Taoiseach to provide the services he promised. It was supposed to be no trouble at all to provide LocalLink services, but they have not been added to. Even the ones that were promised are not being delivered. That is the truth. The purpose of this question is to see what we are going to do to help people in rural Ireland to get around. They do not have the train, taxi or DART services that are available here. There can be no checkpoints on roads around here. If a garda was to stand there for five minutes, there would be a five-mile tailback. It is very easy to have a checkpoint at a crossroads when people are going to mass on a Sunday morning, but I do not know what the purpose is, or on whose orders it is done. Is it being directed by the Taoiseach, the Minister of Justice and Equality or the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross? I appeal to the Taoiseach to answer this question. It is happening across the boundaries of three counties and in the divisions of different superintendents; therefore, a direction is coming from the top.

I can assure the Deputy that there are Garda checkpoints all over the country. I passed through one on the south quays just outside the Guinness brewery the other day. If there is anywhere where a checkpoint could cause a tailback, it is on such a busy road, yet there are checkpoints in those areas too for very good reasons. Neither I nor the Ministers, Deputies Flanagan and Ross, order the setting up of checkpoints. They are decisions for the Garda Commissioner, superintendents and inspectors in their particular areas, but I am not going to apologise for the fact that there are Garda checkpoints throughout the country. The vast majority of law-abiding citizens want to see a more visible Garda presence. They want to see gardaí on the streets in their communities on bicycles and on foot. They want to see Garda checkpoints because that is how crime is disrupted. Particularly when we are trying to crack down on the scourge of burglaries in rural Ireland, we need a more active Garda presence on the roads to disrupt those who go into rural Ireland and people's homes to take their possessions and do them harm.