Jim Glennon (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

Like my colleagues, while I am glad to have an opportunity to contribute on this important topic, it does not give me satisfaction to have to deal with it. I am interested in the number of road fatalities in recent years. In 2003 there were 335 deaths on the road, compared to 472 in 1997. When one takes into account the number of additional vehicles on the road over that period the statistic is particularly striking. Any death from negligence is unacceptable but our task as legislators is to ensure the least possible number of deaths on the roads.

It is significant that the introduction of penalty points in 2003 coincided with the least number of deaths. Penalties are the key to this issue and penalty points prove that. I do not agree with Deputy Curran on high-visibility Garda presence. The primary function of gardaí is investigating accidents rather than preventing them. Penalties are the means of prevention. Random breath testing for all drugs, including alcohol, cannot be introduced quickly enough. As a member of the Committee on Transport I look forward to discussions in a few weeks between the Minister for Transport and the Opposition spokespersons on the introduction of random breath testing. I hope it will be introduced for all drugs including alcohol, which tends to be overlooked but must be dealt with.

More stringent penalties must be considered and a system of impounding and confiscating vehicles after accidents must be examined. We must consider mandatory sentencing for certain offences and, in some instances, the removal of the option of suspension of sentences. Yesterday, a large proportion of a sentence was suspended and suspended sentences do not appear to have the deterrent impact on the public that good sentencing should have. We must examine this beyond road traffic offences. Many constituents have made suggestions on the leniency of the Judiciary in road traffic offences, such as dangerous driving or technical offences involving tax or insurance. Inconsistency and leniency exist in respect of these.

I congratulate a constituent of mine who has fought a long campaign on the evil of drunken driving, Ms Gertie Shields. She is the chairperson of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Ms Shields suffered a personal loss that drove her to involvement in this campaign. She is not involved in the politics of the most recent tragedy. Her campaign is ongoing as ours should be.

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