Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Bill. The Minister should note that it amends six major Acts dating back approximately 45 years. Approximately 400 regulations are in some way governed by all these Acts. I recently spoke to a solicitor who deals with many road offences and is an expert on this area, on which he has written a book. He told me the regulations are virtually unreadable and legally incomprehensible at this stage. It may be time to consolidate all the Acts into one major road traffic Act. This would obviously involve a large amount of work. The Minister may refer in his response to the fact that the 400 regulations governed by the Acts are virtually unreadable. How could the ordinary person be expected to cope if the legal people are expressing concern about the accessibility of those regulations?

I was asked some weeks ago about the new version of the Rules of the Road, which had not been published at that time. The original Rules of the Road are approximately ten years old. Will the Minister of State confirm whether the updated version has been published?

As regards education, the rules of the road should be taught to every primary and post-primary student. Previous speakers said schools should provide modules on driving. They could be started when the students are at a young age by teaching them the rules of the road, how to drive a car and be aware of the mechanics of a car. That is not happening. It is being done in some schools as part of transition year but there is not a set national programme to put that into effect.

I agree with the provision on mobile phones but legal people tell me there may be a difficulty in enforcing that measure. The Minister of State might refer to that. If somebody is seen using a mobile phone they can drop it or put it in their pocket. This measure may be difficult to enforce unless a person stopped at a roundabout, traffic lights or elsewhere is observed using a mobile phone.

I regret I do not have more time to debate the Bill because it is an area in which I am interested. The question of valid authorisation appears cumbersome and random testing will be difficult to enforce. Who will decide whether to test somebody who shows no signs of having taken a drink? That is subjective and I foresee problems in that regard. Overall, the Bill is welcome and if it saves the life of one person it will be worth its passage through the House.

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