Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the introduction of this reasonable and sensible Bill. Any measure introduced in the House and enacted which will save lives on the road is to be welcomed by all. As one who travels regularly through another jurisdiction on this island, I am amazed to see the difference there. One seldom sees anyone in Northern Ireland with a mobile phone to his or her ear but one sees it when one crosses the Border into this State. I cannot understand why it was possible to enact legislation in Northern Ireland without any legal difficulties while we are still contemplating it here. I welcome the Minister's positive response to the Bill. The sooner it is introduced, the better for us all.

What has been allowed to develop in recent years with regard to road safety and road deaths is nothing less than criminal negligence. The figures are stark and devastating. In 2003, 335 people lost their lives on Irish roads. In 2004, that figure increased to 378 and last year it was just one short of 400. At a time when the number of road fatalities in other European countries is decreasing, the figure here is on an upward spiral, against the European trend, yet we seem paralysed and unable to do anything about it.

Best practice tells us that the number of road deaths in this country should be 240. I am not for one moment justifying that figure as we would be better off if there were no road deaths. However, the European average is six deaths per 100,000 of population — 60 deaths per million or 240 deaths for our population of 4 million. In other words, 160 people above the European average are unnecessarily killed on Irish roads every year.

Can anyone imagine the devastation, hurt and suffering inflicted on the families who are bereaved or have members injured? It seems no one is willing to accept responsibility and no one is accountable. Is it any wonder that the former chairman of the National Safety Council, Mr. Eddie Shaw, resigned his position in sheer frustration at the Government's failure to provide the necessary resources to implement the national road strategy 2004-06? It is a terrible indictment of any Government that this unnecessary slaughter is allowed to continue and increase. That is the national picture.

I wish to devote some of the limited time available to me to the shocking number of accidents and deaths on the roads in my own county of Donegal. The people of Donegal tragically have become accustomed to waking up on Saturday and Sunday mornings to news reports of serious and often fatal accidents in different parts of the county involving young people. A look back at last year reveals a litany of devastating accidents. On the morning of 18 February last, there was a tragic accident near Buncrana where five non-nationals were killed in a two car crash. The circumstances leading up to that accident shocked not alone the people of Donegal but people elsewhere in the country. On the weekend of 8 and 9 October 2005, three months prior to the tragedy in Buncrana last month, five young people, mostly teenagers, were tragically killed in a car crash again in the Buncrana area. In September 2005, three more people lost their lives in a road accident near Ballintra in the south of the county. During 2004, 30 people lost their lives on the roads in Donegal, probably the highest per capita of any county. Unfortunately, the death rate was as bad last year when the number killed on the roads in the county again reached 30. How can one explain that almost 10% of road fatalities here occur on the roads in one county? The gardaí in the county are doing the best they can with the limited resources at their disposal but they alone cannot counteract the culture of living dangerously which seems to have convinced many young people that they are invincible.

We must seriously tackle this problem. A new road strategy committee is being set up and I hope it will not be made up of policemen and policewoman but rather of people with a genuine ability. I also hope it will have the support of the Government, that the necessary resources will be made available to tackle this problem and that we will not wake up every weekend to hear of such tragedies having occurred in some part of the country. The current position is unacceptable and a Government that tolerates it should not be in government.

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