As a result of the passing of the Bill of the Minister, Deputy Ross, the people of rural Ireland throughout the country are angry and frustrated. As a result, Ministers are complaining about Garda checkpoints. I remind them that it was they and the Minister who voted for this Bill, as did Sinn Féin, while no member of Fianna Fáil voted against the Bill. Here they are now, complaining about gardaí stopping people, when it was these Deputies who put the Bill in place.

The Minister of State, Deputy Griffin; the Minister, Deputy Heydon; the Minister, Deputy Ross, and all other Ministers promised transport services for the people of rural Ireland, but they are fudging and do not know whether they will provide them. Will the Government provide the transport services it promised to provide? People living in rural Ireland do not have the transport services at night or in the morning that people living in urban areas do. The Government will have to rectify the position.

The Deputy cannot expand on the matter now. We have the question.

The Government had no regard to rural proofing when it introduced the legislation, voted for the Minister, Deputy Ross, and let the people of rural Ireland go to hell. That is what it did.

Listen, Deputy. It was a simple question to ask the Minister what he was going to do that could have been put on the back of a stamp.

The Taoiseach is laughing. It is no laughing matter.

I will call the Minister of State, Deputy Griffin. As we are all intelligent people, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae did not have to expand on his question.

I am sure Deputy Heydon will be delighted with his promotion by the Deputy to Minister. Obviously, this is a critical issue and I will refer first to the road fatality figures for 2018, which show that 149 people lost their lives on the roads. It was 149 too many, but it would be remiss of me not to mention that it was the lowest figure since records began in 1959. We need to work harder to reduce the figure even further, but it is a step in the right direction. I have no doubt that the legislative changes, both the most recent and previous ones, have had an impact. Let us not forget that in the 1970s more than 600 people lost their lives on the roads in various years.

People are now locked into their homes.

People with cars.

At the time people objected to initiatives such as the wearing of seat belts. However, times have changed and thankfully the numbers have come down, but we need to get them down further.

The Government is closing down rural Ireland.

After this session of questions on promised legislation-----

The Government is out of touch with what it has done to the people of rural Ireland.

No, Deputy.

-----we will have a meeting of-----

The Government is completely out of touch. It is playing to the gallery-----

I call Deputy Murphy O'Mahony.

-----while criticising the Garda about the number of checkpoints that it organised.

I am sorry, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, but is this a parliament or a circus?

I may have to ask Deputy Danny Healy-Rae to leave the House. He cannot continue in that way.

Let the Minister of State answer the question.

If a speaker is not allowed to respond, it is very much a circus. Obviously, it is not the Parliament in the eyes of some.

Hear, hear.

If a speaker is not allowed to give a response-----

The Government is playing to the gallery.

-----what do we have?

A circus.

It is an attack on our democracy when the Deputy will not allow a speaker to respond to a question.

The Minister of State should answer it.

It is the Government that is attacking democracy. Its members were giving out about the Garda over the number of checks.

The Deputy is attacking our democracy. He will not allow a response to be given.

It was Government members who were giving out about the Garda.

I ask Deputy Danny Healy-Rae to restrain himself.

May I respond, please, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle?

I am sorry, but I am in the Chair. I ask Deputy Danny Healy-Rae to restrain himself. There was a simple question to the Minister of State and I want a simple answer to it.

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle will get the answer-----

No, I am not getting it.

-----if I am allowed to speak, without interruption.

The Minister of State cannot answer it.

He has no answer to it because the Government is blackguarding the people of rural Ireland.

You are not on the side of a mountain in south Kerry now but inside the national Parliament. Will you, please, show some respect for it?

I will ask Deputy Danny Healy-Rae to leave the House.

I will go away.

Of your own accord.

There are children watching from the Visitors Gallery.

There is a meeting of the ministerial and management boards after this session of questions on promised legislation. We will be discussing rural transport initiatives such as Rural Link which has been extended. I assure the Deputy that, as a rural dweller, this is something about which I am passionate.

The Minister of State has had his time. I call Deputy Murphy O'Mahony.

We are taking a number of measures to try to address the issue.

The Minister of State is not passionate enough about the people of rural Ireland.

Please, there are others in the House, apart from Kerry Deputies and Ministers of State.

Are you sure?

This will be class.

This is not the Fitzgerald Stadium but Dáil Éireann.