Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

The Labour Party generally welcomes the measures outlined in the Bill, which is long overdue. I agree with the points made by Deputy Olivia Mitchell that it has come about as a result of persistence within this House, the public outcry over what is happening on our roads and the urgent need to introduce modern legislation to address the problems that exist. While we know that speeding is a serious problem, the issue is with detection. How can we enforce the existing law and how can we detect people who continue to take risks with speeding? We have been promised privately-operated speed cameras for many years and I welcome the fact that the Bill will provide for these. However, we are a long way from having those much-needed cameras on the side of the road. It is very hard to understand the delays in this regard.

We are dealing with this legislation in the context of a fairly poor record on road safety. We had the initial 1998 road safety strategy and then the 2004-06 strategy. When these strategies were launched, we were told that they would tackle the problem by creating awareness about the need to drive carefully and observe the speed limits, not to drink and drive and various other matters. In spite of all the hype, publicity and glossy publications, those strategies have failed. The current road safety strategy set a target of a maximum of 300 deaths on our roads this year. Some 159 deaths have taken place since January and it is highly unlikely that we will reach the target. Probably a more telling target is the three-year target up to the end of 2006 set in the road safety strategy. However, by mid-April we had already exceeded that target with eight months still to run.

We are debating the Bill in a context where the numbers of deaths and serious injuries on our roads are increasing. There is general recognition that something needs to be done urgently. It is not just about launching strategies with glossy publications and issuing the umpteen press statements that have been released on this legislation. It is about tackling the issue in a serious minded way, looking at the detail of what needs to be done to change the culture in respect of driving in this country. We all accept we have a problem regarding our culture. Not only must Government play its part in changing that culture, but it must also guarantee having a robust body of law to deal with the problem and most importantly we need a guarantee that the laws on the Statute Book will be enforced. This has been the main problem with road safety over the years. We have had plenty of law, but it was not enforced. All kinds of excuses were made. I am very sceptical about the rush to introduce new legislation when existing legislation is not being adequately enforced. This is the context in which we are debating the legislation. The single most important issue in respect of road safety is having adequate enforcement of the law.

The Bill highlights the need to consolidate all road traffic legislation. The Bill is very difficult to read as it contains so many references to other legislation. We know that various speeding, drink-driving and other cases have resulted in challenges to legislation. Having unconsolidated legislation with references to umpteen different Acts lends itself to being contested in court. It creates the industry of solicitors and barristers who make a very good living out of challenging road traffic legislation and exploiting potential weaknesses and inaccuracies. The Minister referred to the need to carry out such consolidation in the past. I wonder why he did not avail of the opportunity afforded by this legislation. It is not as if we suddenly realised the need for legislation. Having the legislation spread over many different Acts is unacceptable and chaotic. This Bill amends 15 other Acts. It is no wonder so many offences are challenged in the courts.

While there are many facets to the road safety problem, the key ones relate to drink-driving, speeding and general driver behaviour. Deputy Olivia Mitchell and I, with other Opposition Members, identified two particular areas more than a year ago. We raised the issues here on umpteen occasions and discussed them in detail with the Minister at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport. We met the Minister privately to discuss breath testing. We went through the issues in detail. Throughout last year the Minister maintained that random breath testing posed serious legal and constitutional difficulties. It is extraordinary that having kept this up throughout last year, this year after a particularly bad weekend on the roads leading to a public outcry, with many people talking about the need to tackle the problems of speed and drink-driving, the Minister announced that there was no problem after all and that he would proceed to legislate as he has done in this Bill. Why has it taken so long? If all those problems existed last year, what happened to allow them to just vanish? At no point did the Minister provide a satisfactory explanation given the delays we all endured last year. Suddenly, as if by magic, the problem is now resolved. We are due an explanation.

Obviously random breath testing is one of the most important aspects of the Bill and one of the most important factors in respect of our very poor performance in road safety. The Minister made the same excuses in respect of mobile phones. The use of mobile phones while driving was to have been outlawed and the offence was to attract penalty points in the first raft of penalty point offences going back to 1998. It is only now in 2006 that the Minister is moving to deal with the issue. Throughout that period he referred to legal difficulties. Can he assure us that those difficulties have been overcome? What, exactly, were those difficulties?

Licensing for learner drivers is also critical and the Bill is very disappointing in this regard. The Minister has missed an opportunity to make considerable progress in addressing the unregulated and unacceptable arrangements in place for learner drivers. He maintains he will end unaccompanied arrangements for this group but has provided no detail on a timeframe for doing so. I have outlined the critical areas which I propose to address in detail.

As I stated, the Labour Party supports this Bill and intends to facilitate its passage, irrespective of how late the House must sit in the weeks before the summer recess. This legislation must be passed and signed into law before the recess because the summer months tend to be a bad time on the roads. We need to do all in our power to try to improve matters.

I was incredulous when I heard the new chairman of the Road Safety Authority state the Bill needed to be enacted as quickly as possible and could be passed before the summer provided the Opposition parties did not choose to play games on the issue. For how long have we waited for this legislation? For years, Opposition Members have called for its introduction every time the Minister has taken questions in the House or appeared before the Joint Committee on Transport. Now, three weeks before the summer recess when Deputies finally have an opportunity to debate the legislation, the chairman of the Road Safety Authority makes the unfortunate comment that all will be fine provided no one holds it up.

See this speech in context