Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 6, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:

4.—The Minister shall, notwithstanding the status of the Authority, remain politically accountable to the Houses of the Oireachtas for all matters that fall under the ægis of the Authority, and nothing in this Act shall be used to diminish the level of that responsibility or his or her accountability in that regard.

As far as I am concerned, this is the most important amendment that has been submitted during the Bill's progress through the Seanad and Dáil. It seeks to ensure that the Minister answers parliamentary questions on the new road safety authority. This is absolutely essential. I support the legislation and the establishment of the new authority and would like to strengthen its functions. I welcomed the appointment of Mr. Noel Brett and, to the chair of the authority, Mr. Gay Byrne. However, the buck stops with the Minister. The authority is not an elected body and the Minister must be responsible to the Dáil and answer questions on this body once it has been set up. No Member of the House can support a replication of the situation that arose when we established either the NRA or HSE where information became unavailable to the public or Deputies who represent the public. When Deputies get information in answer to parliamentary questions, it is inadequate and months after the questions have been asked. The head of the HSE, the unfortunate Professor Drumm, has become the fall guy for the Government.

This is exactly what the Minister is setting up for himself. He will never need to answer another question and will be able to duck and dive as he has done successfully even when he was responsible to the Dáil. The opportunities to avoid responsibility for road safety will be enormous once the Minister has handed it over to the authority and he has somebody to blame. Before entering the House, I heard the Minister on television passing blame to his officials yet again, stating he would not spend money until they sort something out. For the Minister, the buck always stops with someone else. In this case, I insist that my amendment is voted on. It is incomprehensible to the public why the Dáil should pass on its responsibility to ensure the public is represented and the Minister answers its questions.

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