Ms Joan Swift:

Enforcement certainly is an issue, but we do not make legislation on the basis that people might not like it or it might be difficult to enforce. Not everybody was happy a few years ago when the drink driving legislation was tightened. Nonetheless, it happened. People still drink and drive but that is not a reason not to have the legislation. There will have to be a cultural shift. The Garda Síochána would have to answer regarding its resources for enforcement. However, some of it is that we do not really see or have not fully grasped how dangerous the speed is. People might say: "Sure, he is only doing 55 km/h, so why bother?" A national change countrywide would make a difference because if it is only in this little estate or that little estate, it will not be seen or taken seriously enough.

Senator Pauline O'Reilly spoke earlier about what we could do to bring people along and change people's minds. I have been thinking about the myths there are about how much people will be delayed if the speed limit is changed. There was an example of it on Newstalk's "Lunchtime Live" yesterday. People were talking about the Phoenix Park and a couple of the contributors felt it would be the end of the world because they would be held up so much. Legislators have a responsibility, as well as people like us, volunteers and so on, to counter that myth. I was thinking about it this morning and about a commute where there are no bypasses. For example, if somebody is travelling from Donegal to work in Sligo, the person has to pass through four or five different villages. I worked out that if the full total of 30 km/h limits in those villages was 10 km, that would add eight minutes to one's trip of 60-odd km. A person could say that would mean he or she would have to leave at 7.50 a.m. instead of 8 a.m., but the difference it would make to the communities in Grange, Rathcormack, Drumcliff and Cliffoney if people were willing or had to give that eight minutes would be enormous.

The Chairman will be very familiar with the road from Tipperary to Limerick. That would be very similar, with Dromkeen, Boher, Oola and Pallasgreen. I have not worked that one out, but if one were to put 30 km/h zones in those villages-----