Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome everybody. An opportunity to engage like this is very productive. We are here because before Christmas, we as a committee wanted to bring forward hearings on the issue of road safety and the worrying trend last year where we saw an increase in fatalities on our roads for the first time in a number of years. Collectively, all the political parties, though I can only speak for my own, want to bring forward legislation that will address the number of fatalities on our roads. I am not as emotionally involved in this debate as the witnesses evidently are. I sympathise with the families who have been bereaved over the years.

As one of the contributors said, we have to ensure penalties are proportionate. We have to ensure that sentences reflect the seriousness of the crime and that there are deterrents. What I am getting from the presentation is that the biggest deterrent is enforcement on the roads. That has been backed up by facts. In December 2016, there were 34% fewer fatalities on our roads because there was a greater presence of gardaí on our roads and because there was an extensive media campaign about the consequences of drink-driving. We seem to be focusing all our attention on drink-driving, which incidentally is not the biggest contributor to deaths on our roads. If one compares it with to December 2014, there was a 24% difference when the Garda had a greater presence on our roads.

I welcome that Assistant Commissioner Finn has been appointed to his role. It was left void for a long time and that in itself gave an indication of the commitment to road safety. The most senior position in this area in An Garda Síochána was left void, with nobody in a leadership role, and there was nobody at the management level that Mr. Finn speaks about to fight to secure the additional resources. We want to welcome and acknowledge that. The strength of the force is still 400. Will Mr. Finn explain to me the difference between the traffic corps and roads policing? He spoke about the number of people in the traffic corps and about roads policing. For my benefit and perhaps that of others, will Mr. Finn explain the difference?