Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. It is a dangerous thing for any person to be looking at a phone. Whatever about being on the phone, looking at stuff on the screen and being on the phone are highly dangerous things to do. It is important that the message gets out there. Deaths are caused by it. Momentarily, people stop concentrating and are looking at something and, before they know it, they are in a crash.

On the numbers of detections, they are going up. This is quite significant. I am attending a committee with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, about road safety. We need to keep relentlessly working on the figures to try to ensure that the number of deaths on the roads does not increase. With the population increasing, it is another challenge. When we see the improvement on the roads and see the greater Garda policing in the area, that is what is going to deter people. The only way we are going to stop it is by people realising that there is a good likelihood of them being caught. If they are caught, there is going be a consequence, whether it is a penalty or another impact for them.