Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

Road investment has an important part to play. The segregation of traffic leads to fewer deaths and less frustration. We have high volumes of traffic on what used to be high grade single carriageways and this is one reason sceptics were convinced of the need for the N8 upgrade. I think particularly of the stretch between Cahir and Mitchelstown, where two or three years ago there was a horrific accident involving a woman and two children. There has been a resistance campaign to the upgrade, on the grounds that the traffic volumes do not justify it. Road safety considerations are also important rather than just traffic volumes. Mention of Mitchelstown brings to mind the fatal accident that took place in the past couple of weeks on the single carriageway bypass on the west side of the town.

The road safety campaign advertisements which aim to achieve a shock impact look effective to me. At the same time, all our towns are full of boy racers who do not seem to keep to the speed limits, particularly late at night.

Public transport is important when discussing road safety. The risk of accident is far lower for those who travel on public transport, particularly for long journeys. I was in Galway for a speaking engagement on Monday night. If the western rail corridor had been completed, I would have travelled on it, but I was glad to see, as I was crossing the level crossing at Craughwell that machinery and crew were working on the project. This morning I had cause for frustration when using public transport. In order to attend the Forum on Europe at Dublin Castle, I drove to the Luas Sandyford car park, which has 600 spaces, but it was already full. It is a serious problem that parking capacity is not available for those who want to use public transport.

Fatigue is, undoubtedly, a problem. We have been too slow in providing exits and service areas for motorways. I wonder why there is such reluctance to provide these services and suspect it may be because some deals were done with towns along the way when they were bypassed so they would not resist the new roads if services were not provided. It is clear more needs to be done, but I am glad we are making some progress.

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