Mr. Michael Finn:

As I said in my statement, we welcome the good news that Ireland has reduced its number of fatalities over the past ten years. A lot of work was done such as new legislation on drink-driving and the introduction of GoSafe vans. All of this increased the public perception that one would be caught if one committed an offence. The level of compliance has brought about a change, particularly in the behaviour of road users and, primarily, motorists. The change in behaviour has been instrumental in reducing the number of fatalities.

Enforcement is a key aspect. Our role is important and, hence, we have committed to increasing the size of the traffic corps to increase the level of enforcement and address the increases in the number of road deaths we saw last year and in the two preceding years. Without doubt, enforcement has a role to play. That is why it is important that we increase our numbers and, now that we have the resources, we have put extra resources into the traffic corps because new recruits have been deployed to the traffic unit. We place importance on the traffic corps due to the undeniable positive impact it has on the number of fatalities.