There was uproar in the Dáil after the Taoiseach said Kerry Deputy Michael Healy Rae was “approaching people after Mass” to offer them a seat on a bus for cross-border cataract surgery. The Taoiseach tried to defuse the disorder in the chamber — with Mr Healy Rae being joined by other Independent Deputies in the denunciation of the remark — by telling Mr Healy Rae it was a “measure of the energy you apply” to dealing with constituents’ problems. The furious reaction continued, however, with the Taoiseach being told “if you were going blind you wouldn’t like it,” after he had told Deputies to relax. Mr Martin told him: “You haven’t paid for the cataracts. Mr Collins said the Taoiseach’s comments were “a mockery of people who were suffering pains and going blind.” Mr Martin said the Government was trying to expand capacity so that the journey would not be needed in the first place.

Source: Irish Independent October 06, 2020 15:11 UTC