Jim Glennon (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

We have a difficulty with respect to driving test centres. I fully accept the problems encountered in recruiting appropriately qualified driver testers. However, it is one of the facts of life of Ireland in 2005, in the era of the Celtic tiger. We must address the issue and under the terms of the Bill, along with the Minister's vision of the new authority's scope, it will be addressed. While speaking of the new authority's scope and parameters of activity, I am delighted to see that it will be responsible for encouraging better driving in general. However, what plans exist for a better, or a new relationship with the new Garda traffic corps? It strikes me that great potential exists in this regard, as it does with the National Safety Council and similar bodies that have contributed hugely to public awareness of the necessity for increased safety on our roads. On similar lines, I understand an EU directive is currently before the European Parliament on the provision of "smart card" driving licences with improved security features. I would be interested to hear what opportunities might be open to the authority in this regard. Perhaps we could emulate the United States and use such cards for identification purposes in bars and off-licences, thereby contributing to the campaign against under age drinking and drink driving.

We must encourage and insist on standards of responsible driving. We must ensure that the rule of law, especially with regard to road traffic, is abided by. There will always be a small minority that will choose to flout the law, be it statutory or moral. It is up to us to ensure that there is as little scope as possible for this minority to break the law. We must put the appropriate structures and machinery in place. Equally, and this applies to the majority of legislation, we are only drawing up the rules within which people must operate. All road users, be they motorcyclists, pedestrians or drivers, have a responsibility to ensure that they and others in their immediate vicinity show responsibility and maturity in their use of vehicles and roads.

If there were a more immediate means by which attention could be drawn to those who break road traffic laws while engaged in the act, there would be much fewer breaches of the law and much more respect shown to the law, for example, in the area of speed limits. If there were a way whereby law-abiding and responsible road users could draw attention to those who break the law, for example, by flashing their lights, it would be a positive development. In many cases, speeding results from genuine misjudgments on the part of drivers. They creep over the speed limit without realising it. A high incidence of speeding could be reduced by the method I outlined. However, there will always be the 5% of road users who deliberately flout the law.

I congratulate the Minister on the Bill, welcome it and look forward to its implementation. Any measure that makes our roads safer for those who use them is to be welcomed.

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