Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Since 1998 the Government has had road strategy programmes designed to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries on the roads. While I accept that any number of injuries or deaths on the roads is too high, to the best of my recollection, the figures for 1998 were higher than they are today. At that time there were only approximately 1 million vehicles on the roads while there are more than 2 million vehicles today. However, when people are dying that is not the way to look at it. In spite of improved roads, more gardaí, more legislation and more powers, we need to continue doing that.

The Deputy referred to cameras and where the gardaí locate checkpoints. That was the point I was making. It is not an issue of troubling the public at easy locations. It is looking at places where historically experience shows evidence of a history of speeding, where speed-related collisions occur and where serious accidents and fatalities occur. That is where we should put the traffic corps and the speed cameras. We have a system of offences. There are also the issues of responsibility and training. I appreciate that a high number of non-nationals are among the fatalities, perhaps because of their inexperience of our road laws. All those matters are being rolled out and are being pursued. That is the reason for the huge increase in the traffic corps and for so many additional resources being given to the road safety strategy. The Minister will outline some more of those tomorrow.

It is regrettable that it is always a case of big brother trying to stop people rather than looking after themselves. If that is the way it is, the Government must follow with tough measures that will inconvenience the public and not only those who break the law. The Government is prepared to do that.

The Attorney General's advice on the random roadside breath testing is not that it is unconstitutional. To stop every single vehicle is not considered to be a fair way of applying the law but to stop vehicles randomly is. It will put some fear into drivers who, in many cases, do not care about this. The Attorney General's advice is that we can do this and that is the way we propose to continue.

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