Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

Deputy Howlin was a Minister and had a beard when the booklet was last published, which indicates how long ago it was. It is a scandal that anybody who begins to learn the rules of the road cannot get an up-to-date rules of the road book. This was brought to the attention of the Minister's predecessor three years ago and to the Minister last year but no progress has been made.

Measures have not yet been finalised which would introduce required standards and training procedures for the recognition of driving instructors.

While a disproportionate number of larger vehicles are involved in serious road accidents, the Minister has not transposed Directive 2002/85/EC on the fitting of speed limitation devices on HGVs. I recall that the Minister of State appeared on television some months ago to promise that such a step would be taken without delay but no action has resulted. Nothing has been done in terms of the introduction of on-the-spot fines for licensing and tachograph offences by HGV and bus drivers. The directive on working time for HGV and bus drivers has not been transposed.

A number of issues are outstanding with regard to vehicle standards. No schemes have been introduced for testing imported vehicles before registration or for roadworthiness tests for motorcycles.

It may be seen from this list, which is not by any means exhaustive, that the Government has a mountain to climb before all of these road safety measures are implemented and is not even in compliance with the reforms required of it by the EU. These problems are compounded by the fact that a great deal of information is missing. The Minister has refused to publish his legal advice on the difficulties of providing legislation for random breath testing. He has not published the 2004 annual report of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, which provides details of detection rates and breath testing rates for drink and drug driving. The Government has not published its report on the interdepartmental review of road safety expenditure. The NRA has yet to complete its study of the collection of serious injuries data so, contrary to what was supposed to happen under the current plan, no target has been set.

Another commitment in the road safety strategy was for 11.1 million vehicles to be checked, per year, by the end of the strategy period. Yet, in replies to parliamentary questions, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has not been able to tell us how many vehicles were checked in 2004 as part of the Garda speed limit enforcement programme. How can a target be met if there is no measure of the current activity? We need to see real progress that is measurable and accountable and where clear targets are seen to be met.

On the issue of achieving targets, let me put something to bed. The Minister for Transport stated at the meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport last week that all the targets were met in the last strategy. If he bothers to read beyond the preliminary paragraphs of the review of that strategy, he will find that this is simply not the case. While it was undoubtedly a welcome and reasonably successful strategy, the targets for speed reduction, seat belt wearing and the introduction of the full penalty points system were not met and the latter remains outstanding.

The motion also calls for the immediate establishment of a road safety authority. The Labour Party fully supports the creation of such an authority and would like to see it up and running as soon as possible. There is an urgent need to draw all the strands and agencies dealing with road safety together so that there can be one co-ordinated effort and one coherent voice.

The Labour Party believes we should be mindful of Mr. Eddie Shaw's recent remarks that the road safety authority "must operate in a radically different legal and operational context, specifically in regard to its governance, autonomy, funding, staff and systems". The Labour Party supports this view and would like to see the new authority become a body with the ethos of a road safety champion as much as a managerial and implementation body. We want to see it become a body that bothers various Departments and agencies rather than simply bowing to them.

We also believe that in establishing the authority the Minister should seek to change the policy setting and in this context I draw the Minister's attention to remarks made by Mr. Eddie Shaw in his recent contribution to two Dáil committee meetings in recent times. His submissions contained some very sound advice. The Labour Party believes that the Minister, when he tables his amendments on Committee Stage, should incorporate that advice into the formation of the new road safety authority, and I hope that happens soon.

I want to turn now to the area of driving instruction. This is an area which has been very much neglected. I do not know if people generally are aware that there is no legal requirement for driving instructions to be registered. There are an estimated 2,000 driving instructors but at present only about two thirds of them are actually registered because registration is voluntary. That leaves approximately 600 or 700 instructors who are not registered. One of the functions of the new authority will be to provide for the regulation of driving instructors. So far, however, the Minister has given very little information on what his proposals will entail.

Many people, particularly parents, would be shocked if they knew just how easy it is to become a driving instructor under the current rules. There is essentially a free-for-all with no Garda clearance required and no minimum standards set down for driving experience, let alone tuition experience. I am not casting aspersions on the current crop of driving instructors, I am merely saying that it is the responsibility of the Government to establish safeguards and set down minimum standards.

The Minister needs to tackle this problem before he establishes the road safety authority. He needs to signal a clear policy to existing and intending driving instructors on what training and accreditation will be required of them so that they can begin to obtain these before the Bill passes into law. He needs to set down clear guidelines in terms of Garda clearance, tuition standards and competency reviews. If he waits until the Bill passes it will be another two or three more years before the regulatory regime will be established satisfactorily.

I repeat that this motion is not about apportioning blame. It is about taking responsibility and it is time we saw a bit more of that from those on the opposite side of this House.

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