I welcome our distinguished guest, the Portuguese ambassador, to the House this morning. I also welcome Councillor Peter Feeney and his special guests and all of the guests in the Public Gallery this morning.

Today I want to raise the issue of limited access to driving test centres in north Kerry and seek a debate with the Minister for Transport on the provision of additional driving test capacity in rural north Kerry and throughout the country. At present residents of north Kerry must travel to Tralee or Killarney to sit their driving test. This includes people living in towns and villages such as Listowel, Ballybunion, Tarbert, Moyvane, Duagh, Causeway, Abbeydorney, Ballyheigue, Ballydonoghue, Lixnaw and Kilflynn in rural north Kerry. When young people are completing their essential driving training families already face the cost of lessons, insurance and testing fees. Long travel distances for lessons and test appointments place an additional burden on households, particularly in rural areas where public transport is limited and a driving licence is often essential for accessing education, employment and training opportunities.

There is also a strong case that demand exists. Figures from last year show that more than 850 people were actively waiting for a driving test in Tralee. There were 3,736 driving tests in total. There were 500 waiting in Killarney, where there were 3,933 driving tests completed in total. When scheduled applicants and those progressing through the system are included, there were more than 4,300 applications across the two Kerry centres.

In general the long delays for driving tests in Kerry over the past three years were caused by a combination of very high demand and insufficient testing capacity. The Listowel municipal district area alone has a population approaching 32,000 and this does not cover the whole district of north Kerry. Listowel serves as the main hub for the area. The town has a suitable road network including urban routes, roundabouts, residential areas, national and regional roads, and the recently opened Listowel bypass further enhances connectivity and provides access to a wider range of road conditions suitable for driver testing capability. There is a very strong argument for the RSA, in a time of real need for road safety, to examine the feasibility of establishing a driving test centre in Listowel or, at the very least, to assess the demand and services needed for the wider north Kerry region. I call on the Minister for Transport to come to the House to debate this issue for north Kerry.

I was across the road this morning at the INTO's presentation for Oireachtas Members on its pre-budget submission, with regard to the 1,000 teaching jobs needed to secure the national schools in this country. I want to show my support for its submission.

I condemn the violence perpetrated on Stephen Ogilvie in Belfast in recent days, when he was almost decapitated by an alleged perpetrator who is now before the courts. I also condemn the murders of 23 Catholics and Protestants who similarly had their throats cut, were attacked by axes, mutilated, tortured and in some cases subsequently shot by people such as Lenny Murphy and John Murphy. Do I suspect every loyalist or member of the unionist community of being so violent? No, I do not. Most of them are fine, decent and upstanding people. I also condemn the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods, a child who was dismembered, decapitated and mutilated, and parts of his body were disposed around the city. The alleged perpetrator in that case, who has been shot dead, was from Dublin like myself. Do I suspect every Dublin person of being likely to carry out savage and brutal acts of violence? No, I do not. In relation to the alleged perpetrator in the attack on Stephen Ogilvie, do I suspect every Sudanese person or every Somali citizen of such violence? No, I do not. In fact, they come to my home daily and weekly to attend to the intimate care needs of my adult son, and I welcome them into my home as my brothers and sisters.

We have to be very careful about what is unfolding at the moment on this island North and South and across the water in the UK. When Natalie McNally was murdered by Stephen McCullagh in the most brutal fashion and her head left at a dog bowl in Northern Ireland, which has the highest level of violence against women in Europe, did people come out on the streets and burn cars? Did they set fire to buses? No, they did not. What difference does the Stephen Ogilvie attack have? I will tell you what the difference is. It is sectarian, racist, identity-based politics, that narrative, that rhetoric of hatred mobilised by various privileged people to get their foot soldiers to go out and attack the vulnerable on our streets. It is Kristallnacht, wash, rinse, repeat. Destroying a Turkish barber? We have to confront this as politicians and we must take a stand against this type of appalling rhetoric. The only common denominator in most of these assaults is that they are perpetrated by men. Should we ban all men from the streets? Certainly we should not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity or skin colour. We are all capable of the same potential violence.

Yesterday I spoke about security and defence issues and I watched the response to my contribution. I have never queried the professional or service record of any Member of the House. I have never brought into question their credibility, standing or validity. This is a vocational House and I bring my expertise here in good faith and everything I say is evidence-based. I would hope that going forward in future contributions the subject and the ball is dealt with and not the man.