Peter Kelly (Longford-Roscommon, Fianna Fail)

This has been an interesting debate on an important subject. Despite the recent upsurge in road deaths, I congratulate the Minister and his Department on the marked improvement in road safety. The culture has started to change. Since the introduction of the first national road safety strategy, 1997-98, a change has taken place. Death and carnage on the roads was costing the country a significant amount of money and was taking a toll on families and individuals. I express my sympathy to all bereaved families. It is very sad to learn of road deaths.

In the past, injury and death was a common occurrence. Every morning brought news of two or three accidents and something had to be done. The initiative was taken by the previous Administration in publishing the road safety strategy in 1997-98. The downward trend of deaths and injuries over past years is proof that a co-ordinated, strategic, properly-funded approach to the education of road users, the design of roads and traffic calming measures, strong enforcement of legislation and ongoing monitoring and research can make travel safe for all road users.

We are all road users, using footpaths and roadways. It is in everybody's interest that measures are taken to prevent accidents. The current Government and the previous one led the way in the introduction of a dedicated Department of Transport. Raising public awareness is essential in changing attitudes. As we have seen in the campaigns on drink driving, seat belt use and other issues, a well constructed advertising and education campaign, supported by good legislation and strong enforcement, alters the population's attitude.

One's speed, route and destination are matters of choice and people must take responsibility for their actions. This message has been received over the years and an illustration of the cultural change has been the use of seat belts. For many years, taxi drivers, bus drivers and others in similar occupations would not consider using seat belts. The introduction of rules, making it mandatory to wear a seat belt, has worked despite widespread objections from those who suggested it would not work and would require too much monitoring.

Despite recent figures the trend on our roads is one of a steady decline in the number of collisions and injuries. According to independent opinion, fatalities and serious injuries fell significantly in 1998, 1999 and 2002 following the introduction of new road traffic measures. The level of fatalities in 2003 was the lowest since 1964. These decreases coincided with a quadrupling of the number of drivers and vehicles. When the economy started to recover there was a noticeable upsurge in the number of people driving cars. In Ballymahon and Longford town in my constituency I used to see one car parked outside each house. Nowadays I see two, three or four cars parked in the driveways. Given an upsurge in road use it is logical that the number of accidents will increase. Recent measures take this trend into account and the strategy planned for 2004-06 goes further in underpinning them.

We must maintain the progress that has been made thus far. I congratulate the Government on the investment it has made in improving the roads system. This year an additional €34 million is being invested in our non-national roads. Driving around the country, as most of us do in the course of our work, one cannot escape the noticeable improvements in the road network. Clearly, much work needs to be done on secondary rural roads, but significant strides have been made. The Department of Transport, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the local authorities, has made significant progress and should be congratulated on doing so.

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