Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I will share time with Deputy Olivia Mitchell. I compliment her for bringing this motion before the Dáil and I am pleased the Government will accept it. Deputy Mitchell has talked about this subject for a long time.

We are all concerned about road safety. I do not want innocent, law-abiding citizens who drive up and down the country trying to make an honest day's living to pay the price for rogue drivers, especially those who, according to statistics, are most dangerous at night. The Garda Síochána states it has neither the resources nor manpower to police the roads late at night. That will have to be reviewed. I do not want a money-making racket for the Government, like the situation pertaining to car testing at the moment. I want to see the people who cause fatal accidents dealt with.

I would support anything that tackles people who drink and drive. Anybody who drinks and drives a car turns it into a lethal weapon. If a person takes out a gun and shoots somebody he or she will be charged with murder. If somebody drives a car while drunk and kills someone he too should be treated as a murderer. Because we have a drink culture, we tolerate drunks and sympathise with "the poor devil, the poor creature", but we do not sympathise with the cancer sufferer in the same way. It is time to stop being soft on our drink culture.

The Minister of State said there would be a pilot scheme involving local authorities. Many local authorities have been taken to court for the way they operate. When councils are doing roadworks they often do not put up proper signage to let people know that work is being done. Many people have been killed in road accidents due to the negligence of local authorities. They work on behalf of the State and they should be penalised when they do not do their job properly. Somebody in the local authority system should be held responsible for situations such as these. I refer to the Gallagher case, where a young girl was killed over Christmas two years ago. The family feels very upset and aggravated and has contacted the Department about this.

Local authorities are afraid to produce signage and the Minister of State must make an important decision on this. Thousands of visitors arrive in this country in the summertime and every year they cite signage as the greatest problem. Dublin provides an example of this as one sees almost no signage coming into the city although there is plenty in the centre of the city. Many complain that they cannot enter or exit the city because of poor signage. I managed to drive in Manchester and Liverpool, despite not being a great driver, because one could see clear signage. We have failed to implement such signage in this country and it is now time to examine this.

In the past fortnight I have referred four or five complaints to local authorities concerning tyres that have burst because of holes in the roads. If the local authorities have responsibility for the roads they should fill potholes within 24 hours of receiving a complaint. Otherwise, someone in the local authority should be charged. Why should we penalise those with cars who break the law when the local authority is breaking the law when it does not fill potholes?

I refer to safety barriers without lighting that slow traffic and narrow the road. Many accidents occur because these are not lit by the National Roads Authority or the local authorities. We should also educate young people how to drive and this should be part of the curriculum in schools.

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