Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

Following from that and to try to address the points made by previous speakers, particularly in regard to road safety, I have had a preliminary look at a new strategy which is about to be announced, but there are many issues not addressed in the strategy. The Minister might consider the process adopted in the North because it would save many Deputies, the Minister, the National Roads Authority and the Road Safety Authority a great deal of time. In Northern Ireland a committee on roads was set up, dealing in particular with road safety. It was made up of one or two members from every party. It was a privilege to be in Stormont that day to see members of Sinn Féin, the Unionist parties and the equivalent of the Road Safety Authority on that committee. It meets every month or six weeks, but we have nothing like that here.

We supported the last Government in almost everything it did regarding road safety but an issue arose three weeks ago that the previous Minister refused to recognise, namely, that the quality of our roads and road markings are responsible for road deaths. The previous Minister failed to acknowledge that, but three weeks ago the Garda Síochána officially announced that road conditions are a factor in road deaths. The European Union has declared that 30% of all road deaths in Ireland are due to bad road conditions. Only 3% of our roads are audited every year by the NRA which means that 97% are not audited. We should take our heads out of the sand and repair the roads with the money we have available, although I do not know what is left now in terms of yesterday's figures.

Driving through rural Ireland is a disaster. County councils have not repaired the stop signs at crossroads. I travelled from my parish in Castletown in Meath to County Louth and I could go freely through every crossroad because the stop signs were either knocked down or twisted the wrong way. County councils have not been made responsible to ensure the grass and ditches are cut coming towards stop signs. What happened last week will continue. There is not enough about those issues in the new roads strategy and we would like to have an input into it.

There should be designated areas where young people can be taught how to drive a car. We should not give them a licence and allow them drive on the road without being taught how to drive. The Road Safety Authority is providing such centres because under European Union law lorries must have off-course training centres. Areas will be introduced which bike users can use but there is nowhere young people of 17 or 18 can go to learn how to drive. Having toured the length of the country last year, I am aware that 17 and 18 year olds in our schools want these centres. In the Minister's area, in Oldcastle, there is a centre that is three quarters built and all that is needed is the go-ahead. It is a place where people leaving school can be taught under supervision how to drive a car properly. If we do not do that, road deaths such as that which happened last week will continue.

I am out and about at weekends at football matches and so on and it is obvious that our roads are a complete mess. Regarding signposts, I am getting on in years and I need my glasses to read them, but they are so small one cannot read them. The authorities in Northern Ireland, like ourselves, want to reduce the number of road deaths. The Minister might consider, without major cost, bringing together agencies such as the Road Safety Authority, the NRA and one or two people from each group to deal with this issue. It was a privilege to be in Stormont on the day in question to see people sitting down together and going through the various issues. They have stolen the limelight on us in some respects, although they know they have much to learn from us. The Minister might consider getting everyone's thoughts on the issue because what is contained in the new road safety strategy is not enough. We will continue to see carnage on our roads. There could have been many deaths in the accident last week involving our soldiers.

Road conditions are unacceptable and I was angry with the previous Minister for failing to acknowledge that. I am delighted the Garda Síochána clearly stated two weeks ago that the condition of our roads is responsible for deaths. I was listening to the debate in my office and I heard a speaker say there is no mechanism for drug testing, but that is wrong.

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