Mr. John Farrell:

Yes, we have spoken to a number of insurance companies. The general feedback is that this is completely welcome. They see it as making absolute sense. They cannot see why it should not happen quickly. They believe in anything that upskills drivers. Again, I go back to the figure of 53 years. While that is the longest period of having a licence, since then roads have changed, vehicles have changed and the whole world has changed. The fact that we have a mobile phone in the car now means that the car is an office. There are the possibilities of using other things. It is not a computer at home on the desk anymore. Everything is sitting on our phones in front of us. All of these thing contribute. We can help to change driver behaviour.

The big thing for the insurance companies is the monitoring and the feedback. If we have someone monitored with feedback over a period of time, not over a day or anything like a one-day course, behaviours are changed. In the same context of insurance, we spoke to the companies about young people and novice drivers getting a licence and an N-plate. I am using the term "young people", but obviously someone can be 30 or 40 when getting a licence. Young people are given a novice plate for two years. The premiums they are being asked for at times are astronomical. Some companies are already giving reduced rates for monitored drivers. They see this as very important. Perhaps this is something that should be looked at from a road safety point of view for the upskilling of drivers. Maybe drivers should be monitored for a longer time during the novice period. It would mean that when they become fully qualified drivers, they are actually able to drive and learn good habits over a period of time.