Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the two Chairmen for facilitating a rare and very welcome joint meeting of committees. I will make a very brief commentary, because Deputy Pringle and I are Deputies for Donegal and all the public representatives in the county have huge admiration for the work of Pro-Social Drivers. I am from the Inishowen peninsula. As mayor of my home town of Buncrana, I had to comment on a road tragedy on television. I remember going through the figures on deaths. I came forward with a horrendous statistic: 25 young people under the age of 25 had been killed on the roads of Inishowen over 18 months. We went through a terrible period, so for us to come from that tragic history to having a story like this is remarkable. The Chairman was right to ask the question about re-offenders, because having just one is an incredible achievement.

I am mindful that the two Chairmen are representatives of rural communities, and Deputy Fleming, who has joined us, is also from a rural community. In rural communities, public transport is very patchy, so young people grow up with a culture of cars and having to drive. The objective of Pro-Social Drivers, practically speaking, because it is based in Donegal, is to engage with a number of rural counties and with working groups there. I would like to see this mainstreamed. I am a big admirer of what the witnesses are doing. Could they talk through taking an approach with all rural communities similar to Donegal first and then working their way down, hopefully, if we can get support from the Minister or whatever Department? Could they tell us how that would move forward?