Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

The implementation of road safety measures has had a significant impact on the level of road deaths in recent years, but such measures will not work alone. Road users must take responsibility for driving behaviour and each of us can help to reduce the level of road deaths and injuries. The RSA and many other Departments will implement a range of road safety initiatives as part of the next road safety strategy for the 2007 to 2012 period, which should see Ireland approaching the best practice levels of the best performing countries in Europe.

We intend to publish the strategy during the next three weeks and I look forward to the support of all Deputies. While we make political points and attack one another at times, I do not want to call into question the sincerity of all Deputies in terms of this issue. I would have preferred it had Fine Gael approached me to table a motion on which we could all have agreed to send a clear signal of the——

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