Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

That is fine. I welcome this amendment which I raised on an earlier Stage of the Bill. Given that there is so much more traffic on the roads these days, especially heavy traffic, the amendment is essential. I am glad to see it is an offence not to report such incidents because reporting is the absolute minimum required. The fine of €5,000 is quite a small amount. I know of a case of bridge strike on the M50 which cost much more than €5,000 to put right. One of our new intercity trains collided with a cow and has been out of action since. I am sure that damage cost considerably more than €5,000. I do not suggest that this was intentional. However, that fine may not be sufficient to cover the kind of damage that is being caused on a daily basis by some of the heavy goods traffic on our roads. To stamp out these bridge strikes, the fine must be onerous. Some of the bridges that are particularly vulnerable should have CCTV cameras so that culprits can be detected.

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