The Road Safety Authority has been attacked by a backbench Fianna Fáil TD, who described it as being "out of touch with rural Ireland" and "made up of well-heeled people".
Mattie McGrath, Tipperary South, said the RSA was "a quango", as was the Review Body on Remuneration.
"They're not accountable to anybody and they're all well-heeled people, and a lot of them are not even remotely in touch with what goes on in rural Ireland anyway.
"I don't know about urban Ireland. In Dublin you can get on the Dart, or get a taxi, or a bus or the Luas or whatever. What can we get in Tipperary?" he said.
He was speaking on Newstalk radio.
When put to him that the further reduction in blood alcohol limits being proposed by the authority would reduce rural people's capacity to socialise, Mr McGrath said this was going to be another mistake.
"We're all the time trying to combat rural isolation. On the other hand these people will increase it," he said.
"The rural man or woman, and I'm talking about settled people in middle age, the only outlet they have a lot of the time is to go out to the pub, have a chat, have a drink or two, have a game of cards, meet the people," he said.
"And as well as that, a lot of the social life in rural Ireland - fundraising events, retirement dos, card games - many of them take place in the local pub or hotel."
He added that the situation was "putting a division between the gardaí and the community and that's a very bad thing for rural Ireland".