Mr. Niall Doyle:

Mr. Brett likes to steal my thunder.

I absolutely endorse the proposal regarding a centralised system for speed limits, which makes total sense. However, we should never forget that no matter how poor the road conditions, one must always drive in accordance with those conditions. To drive in any other fashion makes one an uneducated road user. Blaming the condition of the roads or trees falling on roads is not convincing; motorists should be prepared for all such eventualities.

That leads to another point which I do not think has been mentioned. Of course there are penalty points and there are all sorts of things going on with regard to driving on motorways and various other things, but we must keep advertising and we must keep educating. Therefore, there is a question of funding. I am sure Mr. Brett would agree with me that providing funding for advertising in this regard will result in the population being educated. One needs to know how to drive safely. If one cannot get to a motorway, one still sees the ads, which are good. However, these have to be funded; therefore, funding for the RSA, which runs them, needs to be kept up. Otherwise, awareness will come down.

The statistics I referred to, including the figure of 92% in regard to driver error, are not mine but come from the report of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The data on mobile telephone use are from the website of the Garda Síochána. When I was examining the information on mobile telephone catches on the website, there was significant coherence in terms of the numbers. I would argue strongly that this is not because it is a persistent problem that will not go away. We all know that, and something must be done about it.

I cannot but reinforce the message Mr. Brett has given in regard to Garda enforcement. I am confident that we can achieve a reduction in the annual number of road fatalities from 186. We can and should be best in the class. The great thing about Ireland is that we are a small country which can get stuff done nationally. The speed camera programme, for which I and others campaigned long and hard, is a wonderful initiative, but it is not a reason - and we were told it would not be a reason - for the Garda to step down its enforcement activities. Unfortunately, all of the evidence suggests that because of resource constraints, that is precisely what is happening. If that trend continues, I agree with Mr. Brett that fatalities will rise, we will be wondering what happened and the blame game will begin. On the question of increasing penalties, my view is that we should concentrate on enforcing a consistent application of existing penalties before considering any changes in that regard.

Insurance premiums peaked some ten years ago and have since declined by 26%. As it stands, they are half the price of premiums in the United Kingdom. We are doing quite well on the premium front. When I joined the IIF ten years ago, prices were insane but we were making a loss on our motor book. Today motor insurance companies are making a profit on their motor books, which will please the shareholders and pensioners, but it is not a significant amount. As I said, prices here are, on average, half the equivalent United Kingdom rate. We are doing well in that space, but I am sure there are individual cases which go against the grain.