Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is the first time I have ever been criticised by a committee member for attending a committee meeting. Deputy Kevin O'Keefe is pretty good at firsts. I do not really wish to respond as we have been over this ground before. I do not question the sincerity of Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe, but he is completely and utterly wrong. I am not sure there if is an awful lot I can add to what he has had to say. I will just say I do not think any Minister has introduced more legislation or been more determined on the issue of road safety and saving lives than I have, but that is not to say there is not a lot to be done. The Deputy is absolutely right, tre is a huge amount to be done. We completed the drugs Bill and hope to complete this one. We will introduce measures to tackle speeding. I have announced that I am to introduce and sign a statutory instrument on the passing distance in respect of cyclists. We have put an enormous amount of energy into trying to save lives.

I accept the criticism that we have not done enough because one never can do enough to save lives. It has been difficult but we have got momentum going on this and we are determined to continue with it, whatever the opposition. The Deputy is also right that there are other areas we could address but we cannot do everything all at once. This Bill has had a very long passage because of opposition, which was genuinely felt. The next Bill will probably also have a long passage because road traffic legislation is difficult but we are going to introduce it and we are going to implement it.