Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

It is entirely unfair, but in the one minute allowed for a priority question I want to ask the Minister of State whether he accepts that the senior Minister has spent the past two years looking at this issue, talking about it and doing nothing. Now, after two years in office, what he is proposing to do is pass the buck to the RSA. The former Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, and his predecessor in that office, Deputy Brennan, spoke about their intention to end this indefensible policy whereby learner drivers with provisional licences are allowed to drive unaccompanied. People who have failed their test are still legally permitted to drive. We know that 50% of those killed on the roads are aged under 25. It therefore makes sense that if the Government is serious about tackling the whole issue of road safety, this area of licensing and driver education must be addressed.

Deputies Brennan and Cullen, as Ministers for Transport, stated on numerous occasions that it was their intention to end the practice whereby provisional drivers can drive unaccompanied. Is the Minister of State now saying that the Government is serious about doing that and what is the timescale that is proposed?

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