Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to join in the debate on the Road Traffic (Mobile Telephony) Bill 2006 as introduced by Deputy Olivia Mitchell. I congratulate her and her party for this constructive use of Private Members' time. Clearly, in the light of the ongoing fatalities on our roads, it is incumbent on us, as public representatives, to avail of every possible occasion to highlight this serious problem, both here in the House and around the country in the communities we represent. The Bill is presented as yet another measure that can be adopted to help reduce the carnage on our roads and, as such, I am encouraged by the fact that, although the Minister, Deputy Cullen, may have reservations about some of its aspects or details, it is not being opposed on Second Stage by the Government which intends to bring forward its own legislative proposals in the very near future.

It is important to congratulate the Minister on the work he has undertaken in the area of road safety since moving to the Department of Transport. In particular, I welcome the intention to establish the Road Safety Authority which will have a broad remit in the area of transport and safety. There was widespread support in recent days for the Minister's decision to appoint Mr. Gay Byrne as chairman of the new authority. This high level of support derives not just from his public recognition, but also from the fact that Mr. Byrne enjoys a high level of public confidence and can be relied upon to progress the road safety agenda in an able, committed and fearless manner. He represents an excellent choice for what will, no doubt, be a most difficult job.

The scale of the problem on our roads has been referred to by all previous speakers, not least by Deputy McGinley who spoke poignantly of the horrific loss of life in his native Donegal where 30 people have lost their lives in each of the past two years. However, each county has to bear its own tragic losses. I note from the most recent statistics available that in my county of Kildare the death toll, thankfully, decreased from 31 in 2001 to 19 in 2004, with a corresponding decrease in the number of injuries incurred in road traffic accidents from 349 to 288 in the same period. I suspect this may have much to do with the major road construction programme in Kildare throughout the period. The European norm of 60 fatalities per 1 million of population has been referred to. I understand the context in which this allusion has been made but feel strongly that we must continue to assert the view that there is no acceptable level of road deaths and that one death is one too many.

In the debate so far there have been calls for more legislation and more effective enforcement of the legislation already in place. I congratulate the Government on the establishment of the new dedicated traffic corps which will have 800 members by the end of this year and comprise 1,200 officers by the end of 2008, if not sooner. I acknowledge the commitment of the Garda Síochána to tackling the road safety issue but suggest the Garda Commissioner and senior managers within the force need to adopt a far more focused approach to dealing with the problem of death on our roads.

An inordinate number of fatal accidents seem to involve young male drivers and occur in the early hours of the morning, at weekends or bank holidays. Garda deployment is a matter for the Garda authorities, but I urge them to prioritise the provision of high visibility checkpoints, along the departure routes from nightclubs and other late night hostelries in the post-midnight period. If such a campaign were mounted consistently across the country, it would achieve positive results within a short timeframe.

The number of provisional drivers on our roads has been referred to. The Minister has again set out his stall on how he intends to address the current unacceptable situation. Those many thousands of young people driving on provisional licences deserve to be able to take their test within a reasonable timeframe. In a recent media interview I heard the courageous mother of two young Kildare men who had lost their lives, with a friend, in a horrendous pre-Christmas crash, say that no matter how much legislation we had or what the level of enforcement was, we would not stop the carnage on the roads until we succeeded in bringing about a change in public attitude to the use of the car. While we must strive urgently to reduce the number of provisional drivers on our roads, we must ensure those who pass the test do not conclude that getting rid of the L plates confers invincibility upon them, as so often seems to be the case, especially with young male drivers. If the measures in place or those envisaged do not deliver the desired results, we may have to consider imposing curfews or speed regulators on very young and inexperienced drivers in order to save lives. This has been done to good effect in other countries.

I am happy to support the sentiments expressed on the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving. Despite its widespread occurrence, it is clearly foolish and reckless. One of the worst examples of recklessness I have come across recently involves a good friend of mine who travelled from Kildare to Galway with her daughter who in the course of her journey withnessed her continually sending and receiving text messages while driving. Mobile phone use is not the only form of careless driving. Only this morning on my way to Leinster House I noticed one driver reading a newspaper, while another anxiously applied her make-up. Perhaps we could all do much better behind the steering wheel. The mobile phone is a wonderful piece of modern technology when used properly and responsibly. Let us hope drivers will rapidly get the message.

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