Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I welcome the initiative on the part of Fine Gael and, like the previous speaker, I am interested in finding out what will happen at 8.30 p.m. I would like to think that consensus will be reached on all sides of the House on the spirit, if not the text, of the motion.

We can do a great deal in the area of road safety but we need to grasp the nettle. Testing for alcohol at the scene of accidents represents a significant step forward. I pay tribute to Susan Gray and Public Against Road Carnage on the work they have done to draw attention to the issue. Some weeks ago at our get-together in County Wicklow, my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, met Ann Fogarty. The sad reality of the impact of deaths on the roads on families should make us realise the need to work together on reducing road fatalities.

I hold views that may be unpopular, such as believing that speed limits should be examined and, in some cases, dramatically reduced. Speed is one of the major killers on the roads, irrespective of the use of drugs or alcohol. We should be moving towards zero tolerance of drink driving because even a small amount of alcohol changes our abilities and impairs judgment. We should consider the vision zero strategy adopted in Sweden, which shows the way forward in terms of zero alcohol limits for drivers.

The new road safety manual would be daunting to somebody with a doctorate, let alone ordinary punters trying to get their driving licences. It is 260 pages in length and is difficult for those with a good knowledge of English to understand, never mind the tens of thousands of people who have come to our shores and are seeking driving licences. Back in my day the manual was about 30 pages long and we should consider a plain language version to ensure there is an easier way to learn the basic rules of the road.

We should also consider other areas. Speed cameras are important but, rather than have them at a smattering of locations around the country, they should be privatised so the private sector can achieve the results we want, which is every driver obeying speed limits. This is not rocket science and it has a huge role to play.

Some weeks ago I was in a car with a friend of mine and it had a global positioning system, GPS, that could tell him when he broke the speed limit — not that he did. It was invaluable to see how technology can remind drivers to drive safely. In urban areas we must consider further reductions in speed limits so that children can use our roads safely. One of the biggest inhibitors to parents allowing children to walk or cycle to school is the perception of a lack of road safety. We should free up public spaces, roads and streets to a point that allows children to feel safe crossing residential streets. We have curtailed children and limited them to back gardens in recent years and this is not a good way forward. The road safety school in Clontarf was closed and that is a huge loss. We must find better ways to integrate road safety with the curriculum at secondary level.

To return to the thrust of the motion, mandatory testing of drivers involved in road accidents is the way forward and the Government's announcement today is welcome. The time and effort Fine Gael put into this motion has undoubtedly assisted in getting the response from Government that, I think, will please Fine Gael. This motion is timely. The carnage on our roads has reduced in recent years but it is still utterly unacceptable and there will be harsh and unpopular choices to be made if the death toll is to be further reduced. I am referring to the issues of speed cameras, speed limits and the lowering of blood alcohol levels that are necessary and vital to reduce the carnage on our roads.

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