Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the stakeholders for their contributions. It has been very interesting to listen to what they had to say. There is no doubt there has been a massive improvement in road safety. The main point is that we must tackle the most dangerous elements of driver behaviour to further improve road safety, particularly mobile telephone use and excessively speeding.

Reference was made to bad drivers and repeat offenders. Some mechanism must be put in place to deal with such people, whether it be resitting the driver test, taking driving lessons or being educated on road usage and what they are doing wrong.

The maximum number of penalty points here is 12. Given that we are bringing much of our system in line with that in the UK, does the same maximum apply there or do the two systems differ in any major way? Is there a problem regarding the proper identification of cars and is there a mechanism in place to deal with situations where a car is not identifiable - that is, where its number plate cannot be read?

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has spoken about increasing the speed limit on main carriageways. In that context, I was interested in what the witnesses had to say about the impact of even a slight change in the speed limit. I find it infuriating, for example, when driving on dual carriageways, to find the speed limit is 80 km/h when it should be 120 km/h.

In the approach to a small town the speed limit is 30 km/h. There should be a way of penalising those who exceed the speed limit by a large amount and those who exceed the limit by a few kilometres. When other passengers are in a car, including a baby in a seat, there must be a way of penalising reckless and dangerous driving. Perhaps that issue needs to be teased out.

I am pleased that consideration is being given to bringing the penalty points system North and South into line. Signage is very important and there is a problem in the Border area. I do not know the opinion of the delegates on that matter and whether issues have been raised. There is also the problem that when people are fined they go across the Border to England, Europe or wherever and that is the end of it. Joined-up thinking with the European Union and the UK must be promoted.

I am interested in the national car test disc display. If the NCT disc is not displayed penalty points should be imposed. I also want to hear from the insurance industry on that issue. The NCT does not appear to be a major issue when it comes to taking out insurance, but only when a claim is made. When a car fails the national car test for, say, a month, how are penalty points to be imposed? Mr. Noel Brett raised the issue of penalty points for cars dumped illegally, a point I have continued to raise for many years, but said the system must be safety-based and related to the car. However, that would be one way of stopping the illegal dumping of cars. I appreciate what Mr. Brett has said but it would be a deterrent. The loss of one's driving licence or the imposition of penalty points would have the effect of cutting down on much of the illegal dumping. I would like to hear more on that issue.