Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I support the Bill and compliment Deputy Olivia Mitchell on her effective use of Private Members' time. I urge the Minister to accept the Bill. It is a reasonable proposal which gets over the problem relating to the emergency services and the Garda raised by the Attorney General in 2003 when a similar proposal was mooted.

The Bill has never been more important. The number of cars on the roads is growing and more people now use their cars as sub-offices. Due to the length of time they are spending driving, they work on their way to and from the workplace. It is common to see half of car users using a mobile phone, which is distracting and leads to accidents.

One of my reasons for supporting the Bill is that I have personal knowledge of a very serious accident that occurred due to the use of a mobile phone. The other car involved contained a family of five who could have been wiped out because of actions of the offender who was using a mobile phone as he drove around a bend with no control of his car.

The number of cars on the roads is growing — the January sales figure rose by 26% — as is the number of serious accidents and road deaths, with 90 deaths already this year. As Deputy Mitchell stated, there is also an increase in the level of mobile phone use in cars. In the United Kingdom fixed penalties are in place for the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving. We are simply standardising the law north and south of the Border. People will accept this law, as they accepted the smoking ban. They are beginning to realise that it is irresponsible to use a mobile phone while driving.

Deputy Mitchell pointed to the poor record of Government with regard to the issue of penalty points. Despite their initial impact, drivers are no longer concerned about them. They are rarely a subject of discussion and do not affect or in any way moderate speed on the roads. I occasionally drive from Kerry to Dublin and see very few road checks.

It seems there is no urgency to implement the penalty points system. In 2002, for example, a promise was made to implement 69 penalty point offences by the end of 2003. To date, despite the promise of the Minister, which I hope he will fulfil, only four penalty points offences have been enacted. There were 376 road fatalities in 2002, whereas 399 people were killed in 2005. The Bill is a positive step and I am glad the Minister is accepting Deputy Mitchell's proposal. Others should follow. I agree with Deputy Mitchell that we need an education campaign on the use of mobile phones and other activities in cars that distract drivers and cause accidents, sometimes fatal.

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